Ayo Bakare (NGR) - Nigeria vs Dominican Republic , Day 6 of the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, 8 July, Final
LAGOS - Former Nigeria head coach Ayo Bakare believes that FIBA's new competition system can transform African basketball for good.
LAGOS - Former Nigeria head coach Ayo Bakare believes that FIBA's new competition system can transform African basketball for good.
Bakare was at the helm of his country's national teams - both men and women - on a number of occasions. One of his highest achievements includes a successful campaign at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) which resulted in an Olympic debut for the men at the London Games.
While that milestone of becoming the first African team to punch its Olympics ticket via a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is regarded by some as the pinnacle of basketball on the continent, Bakare feels the sport will be able to grow a lot more across the region with the implementation of the new competition system, which comes into effect in 2017.
The new system will see national teams play home and away games in order to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Following that staging of FIBA's flagship event, a 15-month qualification period consisting of four windows will begin for the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Cup.
Bakare talked to FIBA.com to share his views on the new competition system.
"This will lead to far greater marketing opportunities for the national teams since it will be easier to attract private sector funding for a team which plays at home and sponsors can build adverts and promotions around these home events," said the 55-year-old.
Under the new system, the best African team at FIBA's flagship event will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. And, unlike the current system - which gives three African teams a second chance to qualify for the Olympics - four teams from the continent will have the opportunity of chasing their Olympic dream through four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs).
Ayo Bakare celebrates with Ike Diogu at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
"The quality of each country's local league will improve dramatically as international match-ups are now witnessed first-hand by local developing players and are no longer restricted to the purview of only those countries who host the AfroBasket Finals," he went on.
As national teams play in front of their home fans, heroes are born, legends are created and role models emerge. This impacts on the local populace in obvious ways. All these and many more are social benefits which will develop as people get in closer contact with their national teams. - Bakare
Although he raised questions about the "unknown", Bakare envisions many benefits of the new system.
"The present system allows national federations to have a long period of relative inactivity, followed by a short burst of intense activity but only once every two years. Under the new system and its prolonged participation period, national federations will be kept very busy over a much longer time maintaining contacts with their players, finding sponsors, preparing for games, coordinating travel arrangements for away games and hosting arrangements for home games. These are are all activities which would greatly improve the efficiency and dynamism of some of our National Federations.
"Most of the countries' national federation members (as presently constituted), are unpaid volunteers and it may be unfair to demand such 'full-time' commitment from some of them, especially if the timing clashes with their primary source of income. But maybe the new money that is expected to come into the game as a result of the new system will empower national federations to consider remuneration for members or in the alternative, attracting true sports professionals to administer their sports."
The tactician also believes that last minute withdrawals or late arrivals to continental championships can now become things of the past under the new system as local federations can become self-sufficient.
"Until now, the main source of funding for most of the national teams of these countries has been their governments and sadly this source has been unpredictable, unreliable and inadequate for the most part," Bakare explained. "This sometimes is the reason why some national teams back out of FIBA tournaments at the last minute or show up poorly prepared.
"The inflow of private sector funding will cure this anomaly, as stable funding will ensure proper planning, and the quality of the teams will thus improve significantly over time.
The quality of the national team players and technical staff will dramatically improve because they will now be preparing differently since the new format is a 'marathon' and not a 'sprint'. - Bakare
"Yes, the 'home and away' structure elongates the participation period helping secure more interest for sponsors and fans. But it also helps the development of players and coaches as they now have to prepare for participation over several months as opposed to a single week every two years. They will likely now play a number of games spread over several months, meaning that they would be under pressure to maintain a regular, consistent fitness and sharpness of skill-set, over a much longer period than when AfroBasket was a 10-day event once every two years."
While that milestone of becoming the first African team to punch its Olympics ticket via a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is regarded by some as the pinnacle of basketball on the continent, Bakare feels the sport will be able to grow a lot more across the region with the implementation of the new competition system, which comes into effect in 2017.
The new system will see national teams play home and away games in order to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Following that staging of FIBA's flagship event, a 15-month qualification period consisting of four windows will begin for the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Cup.
Bakare talked to FIBA.com to share his views on the new competition system.
"This will lead to far greater marketing opportunities for the national teams since it will be easier to attract private sector funding for a team which plays at home and sponsors can build adverts and promotions around these home events," said the 55-year-old.
Under the new system, the best African team at FIBA's flagship event will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. And, unlike the current system - which gives three African teams a second chance to qualify for the Olympics - four teams from the continent will have the opportunity of chasing their Olympic dream through four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs).
Ayo Bakare celebrates with Ike Diogu at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
"The quality of each country's local league will improve dramatically as international match-ups are now witnessed first-hand by local developing players and are no longer restricted to the purview of only those countries who host the AfroBasket Finals," he went on.
As national teams play in front of their home fans, heroes are born, legends are created and role models emerge. This impacts on the local populace in obvious ways. All these and many more are social benefits which will develop as people get in closer contact with their national teams. - Bakare
Although he raised questions about the "unknown", Bakare envisions many benefits of the new system.
"The present system allows national federations to have a long period of relative inactivity, followed by a short burst of intense activity but only once every two years. Under the new system and its prolonged participation period, national federations will be kept very busy over a much longer time maintaining contacts with their players, finding sponsors, preparing for games, coordinating travel arrangements for away games and hosting arrangements for home games. These are are all activities which would greatly improve the efficiency and dynamism of some of our National Federations.
"Most of the countries' national federation members (as presently constituted), are unpaid volunteers and it may be unfair to demand such 'full-time' commitment from some of them, especially if the timing clashes with their primary source of income. But maybe the new money that is expected to come into the game as a result of the new system will empower national federations to consider remuneration for members or in the alternative, attracting true sports professionals to administer their sports."
The tactician also believes that last minute withdrawals or late arrivals to continental championships can now become things of the past under the new system as local federations can become self-sufficient.
"Until now, the main source of funding for most of the national teams of these countries has been their governments and sadly this source has been unpredictable, unreliable and inadequate for the most part," Bakare explained. "This sometimes is the reason why some national teams back out of FIBA tournaments at the last minute or show up poorly prepared.
"The inflow of private sector funding will cure this anomaly, as stable funding will ensure proper planning, and the quality of the teams will thus improve significantly over time.
The quality of the national team players and technical staff will dramatically improve because they will now be preparing differently since the new format is a 'marathon' and not a 'sprint'. - Bakare
"Yes, the 'home and away' structure elongates the participation period helping secure more interest for sponsors and fans. But it also helps the development of players and coaches as they now have to prepare for participation over several months as opposed to a single week every two years. They will likely now play a number of games spread over several months, meaning that they would be under pressure to maintain a regular, consistent fitness and sharpness of skill-set, over a much longer period than when AfroBasket was a 10-day event once every two years."
By: FIBA.com
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