ANG - Boost needed to keep Angola among best

BIE (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Angola women's national team captain Nacissela Mauricio says basketball needs an urgent boost in the country in order to remain among the best on African continent and compete on the world stage.

Angola won the past two AfroBasket Women, made their Olympic debut in London, and more recently secured one of the two places on offer for African teams for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Despite the recent success, the future of the game in the country faces some challenges.

By the time the FIBA World Championship for Women tips off in Turkey in September, six of the 12 players that won the AfroBasket Women 2013 in Mozambique will be 30 or older.

"We have faced some of those teams in London, and we know that we need to ready. We might go to Turkey with almost the same team that played in the Olympics. It is good, but concerning," Mauricio explained to FIBA.com.

Angolans are racing against the clock as only four teams based in the capital city of Luanda have competed in the national championship in the past few years and youth national teams are not achieving as much.

Both Primeiro D'Agosto and Inter de Luanda are usually the title contenders, and they serve as the backbone of the national team that has won the last two AfroBasket Women.

The future of the team is one of the most discussed topics in the basketball-loving country.

Basketball in the rest of the 17 Angolan provinces is usually played at lower level.

The most talented players from the provinces, like internationals Nadir Manuel and Luisa Tomas - two of the most prominent of the national team - usually have to leave family and friends behind and begin a new life in the capital.

Mauricio does not have a reasonable explanation as to why this happens, but in order to promote the women's game in the rest of the country, the Angolan Basketball Federation (FAB) selected Bie as the host city of the Campeonato Nacional Feminino (National Championship for Women) 2014, which runs from 7 to 15 February.

Beyond D'Agosto and Inter, the six-team tournament includes Maculusso of Luanda province, Sporting do Bie (host team), and two selections of the best players from Benguela as well as Huila province. Amigos de Viana (Luanda) pulled out for administrative reasons.

"This is a good initiative, and I support it," says Mauricio.

"Realistically, it will take some time for these teams to be able to provide good players for the national team.

"We need more investment in women's basketball all over the country. These teams from the provinces have shown a lot of passion and dedication, and we can't let them down.

"We won in Mozambique, but that was definitely the toughest African championship I took part. We need to revamp the national team urgently.

"Senegal and Cameroon are two very good teams that might cause us some more trouble because they are young, tall and play well," Mauricio explained.

FIBA