Ascend Together, an organisation that seeks to create opportunities for youths in The Gambia through sports, especially in the areas of basketball, have expressed their determination to build the foundation for Gambian basketball at the grassroots level.
The organisation’s programmes focuses on academic commitment, leadership, teamwork, development, discipline and punctuality.
Speaking in an interview with Observer Sports, Alyson Lush, Ascend Together’s Programme Manager, said their association with basketball began through the efforts of several former United States Peace Corps Volunteers who were very much involved in youth basketball during their time in The Gambia, through partnership with The Gambia Basketball Association, schools, youth organisations and other relevant organisations across the country.
“We are currently implementing a project called Rise Gambia. This programme involves 120 upper basic students (60 male and 60 female) from six schools in the Kombos, such as St. Therese’s, Ndows, Latrikunda UBS, Apple Tree, Kotu and SOS. They started sessions on January 18th and been running the sessions with students since that date,” she said.
She added that students are divided into groups of 30 depending on their timetables and schools. LK, Ndows and St Therese’s students are at St Therese’s for practices and students from Kotu, Apple Tress and SOS have been practicing at Kotu.
According to her, their coaches focus on the development of students especially to be academically sound, physically fit, and socially conscious, adding that they hold tutoring sessions in English and mathematics before each training session.,
She noted that their training sessions for the past term have finished this past week, and to reward the students for their hard work, she added, they decided to hold a three-on-three basketball tournament, with music, refreshment at the YMCA basketball court on Saturday at 9am.
by Arfang MS Camara
