‘Propose A Project’: After impactful 2022, FIBA Foundation calls for 2023 applications

MIES (Switzerland) – FIBA Foundation’s ‘Propose A Project’ platform invites applications for 2023 to provide financial, equipment, and mentoring support for ‘Basketball For Good’ initiatives across the globe.

Last year, 23 projects addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) received monetary funding totaling USD 13'000  - besides 1'300 Molten basketballs. The projects’ cumulative impact in 2022 is estimated at nearly 25'000 people.

While every ‘Propose a Project’ effort undertaken in 2022 furthers the ‘Basketball for Good’ mission, we highlight three programs – The Equalizer (Israel), the Haiti Basketball Foundation, and Sport-Aid Development Trust (Zambia) – that exemplify the diversity of the supported causes.

Combining Basketball & STEM education in Israel

The ‘48ers Project’ by Israeli charity The Equalizer (in collaboration with the Jewish owner of NBA team Philadelphia 76ers Josh Harris) is a unique after-school opportunity for underprivileged communities in Israel – promoting STEM education through basketball. The program has expanded from 24 to 40 teams within a year and involves basketball sessions twice a week combined with “social-technological sessions.”

As recently as January, teams of children in the age group of 13 to 16 visited a well-known sport-tech company and learned about AI and customer service.

“Our participants, some of whom are exposed for the first time to content such as physics, statistics, entrepreneurship and hi-tech, receive exceptional enrichment from their wonderful tutors, who themselves are connected to the world of basketball,” said Itamar Benovich, 48ers’ Program Manager.

The Basketball For Good Movement in Haiti

Just like for Israel, FIBA Foundation also supplied 100 Molten basketballs to the Carribean nation Haiti. The country is still limping back to normalcy following unfortunate political turmoil. While the environment around capital Port-au-Prince remains too tense to conduct any basketball programs, the Haiti Basketball Federation (FHB) has a plan in place to distribute the basketballs to partner schools for their ‘Minibasket curriculum’.

"Thank you FIBA Foundation. The FHB is grateful to be a part of the Basketball for Good movement. We have so many young people here that love to play the game. We will ensure the basketballs we received will be a valuable resource for boys and girls across the entire Haitian basketball community," FHB President Henri Jean said.

Raising HIV awareness & female financial literary in Zambia

Perhaps the most unique initiative in terms of nature of impact – the Sport-Aid Development Trust in Zambia is tackling twin objectives of combating HIV as well as increasing the financial literacy of young girls through the ‘Basketball for Girls Money Savvy Project’.

100 Molten basketballs were supplied by FIBA Foundation and have been distributed in three schools - St. Maurice Missionary School, St. Kizito Pre–Grade Missionary School and Mumbwa Primary School.

Faced with the challenge of poor sporting infrastructure in these schools, Sport-Aid has improvised netball courts to suit its basketball training purposes.

The total number of beneficiaries is 1214 children, of whom a whopping 824 are girls.

Through the concept of ‘peer coaches’, HIV and AIDS awareness is being integrated with the basketball drills. Subsequently, once funds are raised for ‘peer coaches’ to also be trained in financial literacy and entrepreneurship, the ‘Basketball for Girls Money Savvy Project’ will be activated.

The schools themselves were happy to be part of the program. “Look! You have put a smile on these learners as most of them are seeing the basketball for the first time…Thanks for implementing this project at our school. Usually, we do not have physical education practicals because we lack sports equipment,” Mr. Enoch Siame, the Head Teacher of Mumbwa Primary School said.

‘Propose a Project’ for 2023!

This year’s call for projects opened in January and will close in mid-April. Interested applicants can learn more about FIBA Foundation’s ‘Propose a Project’ platform here.

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The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.

The FIBA Foundation believes that basketball has the power to empower, educate and inspire youth and facilitates this by implementing Basketball For Good projects around the world.

 

FIBA