African basketball to grow beyond the court

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) says its Future Pros programme is helping grow African basketball by training young professionals, not just players, in countries including South Africa. Speaking at a BAL Future Pros season 6 media roundtable in Sandton yesterday, BAL director of social responsibility and player programmes Marie-Laurence Archambault said the programme was created because the league needed strong local skills to operate. “When the league started, we were importing many services to run it.

We realised we needed local people to make this league sustainable.” Now in its third year, the Future Pros programme places young Africans inside BAL and NBA Africa offices, where they work across departments, such as operations, branding and community programmes. Archambault said the programme is not about guaranteed jobs, but about growth and access. “The goal is not for everyone to be hired.

The goal is to help them grow as professionals and understand what opportunities exist after the programme.” BAL ambassador and former NBA champion Ian Mahinmi said the programme helped change how people see basketball. “It opens your eyes to the business side of the game. You start to understand branding, licensing and how many jobs exist beyond playing.” The current Future Pros group includes participants from Kenya, Egypt, Senegal and South Africa.

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