MAHÉ (Seychelles) – FIBA Foundation’s Basketball For Good Program (BB4G) in the Seychelles has successfully completed its first year, with a day-long festival.

Seychelles’ BB4G Festival 2022

Over 150 students – across 18 primary and secondary schools from Mahé island – accompanied by 30 physical education teachers, participated in various events inside the Victoria gym.

A basketball tournament for different age groups, featuring mixed-gender teams, saw spirited action – right from the pool stages to the knockouts. Special dribbling and shoot-out contests, entertainment performances by DJs, MCs, singers and dancers highlighting the local culture, and Mini Basketball activities – added color and varied dimensions to the milestone occasion.

The dribbling competition for primary school students comprised elements of health and nutritious education.

Notably, the shooting contest was won by a female student.

What is Seychelles’ BB4G Program?

The Seychelles Basketball For Good program is a three-year Community Impact project funded by the local branch of Bahrain-headquartered Al Salam Bank.

The BB4G Festival was the third step of the first year, following a teachers' workshop and an in-school program, bringing together the participating schools from Mahé Island.

Underlining the significance of the BB4G Program for a country like the Seychelles, Jana Malbrook, President of the Seychelles Basketball Federation and FIBA Foundation Youth Leader, said:

“The BB4G program is a major boost to our basketball community and after dealing with Covid, everything was sluggish for a while and the youth was neglected as a result. Being given this project we were positive that it would have helped us, but we were completely amazed by the impact it brought. Seeing the youth enjoy the game and hearing them asking for more, we knew then that this was a start to reviving the community again.”

 Key Stakeholders’ Support

The Seychelles Basketball Federation generously contributed to the festival’s success by providing the Victoria gym as the event location, besides dedicating their time and energy as volunteers helping with officiating, logistics and general coordination.

Five ‘Basketball Mentors’ (previously Youth Leaders) who liaised the in-school program implementation were actively involved in the BB4G Festival organization.

Staying aligned with the Hoops For Health initiative, healthy snacks and water were provided to all participants. The event was supported by Molten which supplied basketballs, and PEAK for merchandise (jerseys, polos, bags, caps).

BB4G: What’s in Store for Years 2 & 3?

The BB4G festival marked the culmination of the first year of a three-year project. After an extensive evaluation to measure the impact of year 1, the project will be continued and tipped off again in 2023.

The aim of the upcoming second year of the project is to build upon the success of year 1 and involve even more schools, teachers, and students for a consistently increasing and long-term impact.

So while the inaugural year of Seychelles’ BB4G program targeted its capital Mahé, year 2 will see the program expanding to the two other main islands Praslin and La Digue, consequently extending the target group to all primary and secondary schools across the Seychelles.

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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