A cradle is a noun which could mean a small bed for an infant, a support for objects (such as the support for the handset of a telephone) or the place where anything is nurtured during its early existence.
The cradle is, thus, a fitting description for the Nestle Milo Championship which has been nurturing the game of Basketball in Nigeria for the past 17years.
Unlike the game of Football which is dominated by the boys at the secondary schools level, Nestle Milo carefully chose the game of Basketball to ensure both boys and girls in schools get the same experience in the game and that more, importantly, they get the right foundation for development.
The President FIBA Africa zone 3 Col. Sam Ahmedu confirms that Nigeria is already reaping the dividends of the Nestle Milo Basketball Championships in schools. “Take a close look at the line up in our National teams both men and women, you will observe that the products are from the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship”.
Col. Ahmedu, recalled that what started 17years ago as Nestle Milo Basketball Clinic later metamorphosed into a full fledged championship which has now spread like wild fire engulfing Secondary Schools across the country.
The 2014 edition featured about 8,000 secondary schools from the 36states and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. The thrilling final matches in the boys and girls categories saw what experts tagged a change of guards. The dominance of some states like Bayelsa, Ogun and Edo got dismantled by Benue state which reigned supreme in the boys and girls categories.
Government Secondary School, Gboko got the top spot in the girls’ category while Jesus College, Otukpo led the boys.
Nestle Milo the sole sponsor tries to communicate, to the students, the great values of sport as a teacher through Determination, Discipline, Honesty, and Confidence.
According to the Category Manager Beverages, Mr. Femi Akintola, “sports is a great teacher and children’s participation in sports helps set the foundation for a solid future. They learn determination to succeed, discipline to persevere and many more life values by participating in sport. We will continue to provide them this platform”
Nestle Milo has continued the synergy with other experts to ensure hitch-free championships. Its partners include the Nigeria Schools Sport Federation (NSSF) which ensures the participation of schools and students. The other important partner in progress is the National Collegiate Sports Foundation which is the body responsible for the Championship proper. They draw and enforce the rules and regulations and appoint referees among other responsibilities.
For the 2015 edition of the Nestle Milo Championship, records show that over 10,000 Secondary Schools across the country registered for the competition. The state preliminaries started on the 2nd of March, 2015 and ended on the 8th of March, 2015 while the state finals were concluded on the 14th of March, 2015.
The stage is now set for the conference playoffs which run- back to back- from Wednesday 22nd April to Wednesday 20th May, 2015.
1. Confluence Conference (Lokoja) 22nd – 29th April, 2015
2. Atlantic Conference (Benin) 30th April – 6th May, 2015
3. Central Conference (Akure) 7th – 13th May, 2015
4. Western Conference (Ibadan) 14th – 20th May, 2015
The National Finals will take place in Lagos between 1st and 6th June, 2015 while the best 50 players identified during the Finals will be invited to the Top 50 camp which will hold in Lagos from 4th to 6th August, 2015 and where they will be trained by NBA coaches led by Masai Ujiri, the General Manager of the Toronto Raptors.
This year’s edition the organizers, Nestle Milo, say will be more thrilling than the 2014 edition where, apart from breath taking skills displayed by the players, top class musicians like Nyaya performed live at intervals.
The 2015 edition also promises exciting innovations like the online activation for celebrity mums and more engagement with the kids on the social media platforms.
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