For the first time in the history of the Under 18 Women’s AfroBasket, Cameroon has secured a space to descend to Johannesburg, South Africa alongside 11 other teams for the prestigious tournament that will run from September 1-13, 2024
Cameroon, South Africa ( host), Morocco and Zambia are making their debut entry while Nigeria is returning since 2008, Rwanda since their debut in 2018c, Tunisia on their 7th participation
The baby basketball girls of Cameroon qualified for the continental basketball jamboree after defeating the Democratic Republic of Congo in a double confrontation in Kinshasa 75-49 and 67-50 points in their in the return leg clash in Zone 4 Qualifiers
Cameroon has over the years had a strong presence in the senior category, Infact the boys of Afred Boya were just an inch to sailing through the just ended Olympic Games in Paris.
“For the longest time, Cameroon has not had junior U18 teams yet we have had athletes who left the country to make careers overseas. Youth development is important because kids develop friendships early. When they get to the seniors, they know each other. It (development) helps with the team’s cohesion. It is fantastic. The federation is doing a great thing by sending the youth to these competitions,” Alfred Aboya clearly puts it
Zambia has a similar story like Cameroon as they make their debut in this category but are putting an end to a more than three decades of absence for the Southern African side. The last time Zambia participated in the AfroBasket was in 1989.
Returning sides like Nigeria , Rwanda and Tunisia are teams to look up to in this category. The Nigerian Senior AfroBasket squad have won four titles in a row and their recently historic show for any other African team at the Paris Olympics maybe a motivation for the youngsters. Rwanda has been on the rise with an enormous investment in infrastructure it is not a surprise anymore meanwhile Tunisia the 2004 champions are making their return after ten years.
Mali have been dominant, winning eight of the 16 editions held so far in 12 appearances, but they could face some real tests elsewhere. The finalists qualify for the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Brno, Czechia.
The Qualified Countries;
# South Africa-debut (Host)
# Mali -13th appearance
# Egypt – 8th appearance
# Angola – 14th appearance
# Morocco – debut
# Nigeria – 3rd appearance (returning since 2008)
# Cameroon – debut
# Uganda – 5th appearance
# Zambia – debut
# Rwanda – 2nd appearance (Returning since 2018 debut)
# Tunisia – 7th appearance (Returning since 2014)
# Wild Card – Apportioned by FIBA Africa
Benly Anchunda
