EGY – “The skills are good, but there are too many obstacles”

HAMBURG (FIBA U17 World Championship) – Egypt is probably the least well known team of this FIBA U17 World Championship. Not only the Egyptian U17 team itself, but the general state of basketball in Africa and especially in Egypt. What can you expect from basketball in a country with 83 million inhabitants but just over 10,000 licensed male basketball players?

What can you expect from basketball in a country with an area of one million square kilometres and just over 100 basketball clubs?

What can you expect from basketball in a country where the players barely have time to practice before a World Championship because of high-school exams?

Well, if you listen to Hesham Aboserea, the head coach of Egypt’s U17 and former professional basketball player, you can expect a lot!

“Basketball in Egypt is growing. Our structure is getting better and better, and we will learn more and more from the international meetings. This is not enough right now but I’m optimistic”, says Aboserea who played two World Championships (1990 in Argentina and 1994 in Canada).

However, he mentions “a lot of obstacles” which have hampered the development of Egyptian basketball to date.

“First thing is that we are physically not as tall and strong as men in central Africa. This is not in our nature, we cannot change it. On the other hand we are mentally tough. ‘Heart’ and ‘honour’ are very meaningful words in our culture”, the head coach explains.

Basketball in school, probably the most important basis for successful basketball for example in Europe, does not play a role in Egypt. “Football is the main sport in school, everything else is just fun,” Aboserea points out. Basketball education in Egypt starts in the clubs, in most of the cases not before the age of 14.
At the age group of 16/17 there are twelve clubs playing in a nationwide league, almost similar to the men’s league. These are the clubs where U17 national team players were recruited.

According to Aboserea the big distances in the huge country are not a big problem. The lack of interest in basketball is a much bigger one. “Nothing else than the NBA is of interest here. That’s why it is so important to get more games on the international level, to send more Egyptian players abroad, to share experiences with other countries or to create a better system for teaching coaches”, Aboserea has lots of ideas and wishes.

And, of course, money is very important. „Egyptian basketball has to find more sponsors because in the end so much depends on money. This means that we have to increase the know how of our employees how to find sponsors. Here also help from outside of Egypt is needed“, the head coach appeals.

Improvement is also needed on the player’s side in Egypt. “Accuracy” and “Concentration” are the main goals because “The skills are good, but there are too man y obstacles!”

So it will be interesting to find out whether Egyptian basketball is on its way up ... or not.

For today, Hesham Aboserea is very happy despite the loss to Serbia in the first game. He says that his players are full of motivation to play good basketball at the World Championship. "Thanks to the great hospitality here! Germany is our second home …. After Egypt!" Famous the last words from Hesham Aboserea.

FIBA