Sports News of Monday, 12 December 2022

Source: Wax Print Media

The Pops 100 Camp is cultivating basketball culture in Ghana

Former NBA Player, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Former NBA Player, Pops Mensah-Bonsu

This December, former NBA Player, Pops Mensah-Bonsu returns to Ghana for the third annual Pops 100 Camp: Powered by Seed Academy Ghana, a 2-day intensive basketball camp for elite and grassroots male and female basketball student-athletes.

100 top player from across Ghana has been selected to attend the Pops 100 Camp.

On Day 1, players will develop and enhance critical basketball skills such as ball handling, passing, shooting form, and defense as well as a Life Skills Sessions with Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Day 2 will continue with games, development, and life skills and a closing awards ceremony with specially invited guests.

The primary goal of The Pops 100 Camp and Seed Academy Ghana is to develop the next generation of African leaders through education and basketball while creating a sustainable, scalable basketball culture that will cultivate and inspire the next generation of Ghanaian youth.

"The third annual Pops 100 Camp is my gift to Ghanaian youth and will allow us to be at the forefront of cultivating the rich yet hidden basketball societies that permeate sports culture in Ghana. The camp will provide a platform for young, untapped Ghanaian basketball talent that can ultimately alter the course of many lives," shares Mensah-Bonsu who was one of only 3 Ghanaians to play professionally in the NBA as well as clubs in the European leagues and represented Great Britain as a member of Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

SEED, which stands for Sports for Education and Economic Development was launched in 2002 in Senegal by the current Basketball Africa League and NBA Africa President Amadou Gallo-Fall as the first basketball student-athlete academy in Africa.

Subsequently, the Ghana Division of Seed Academy was launched by Mensah-Bonsu in 2018 and works in partnership with the Ghana Basketball Association to help support and enhance the development of basketball, coaching, and infrastructure for the sport in the country as well as mentor, coach, and signpost future basketball talents.

"The game of basketball has taken me around the world and allowed me to develop into a leader with integrity and honor and has been pivotal in the major successes I have experienced in my life. It is now time for me to reciprocate and invest in Ghana’s next generation," adds Mensah-Bonsu who is currently President of Basketball Operations for G-League’s Westchester Knicks.

The Pops 100 Camp: Powered by Seed Academy Ghana will be held 29-30th December in Accra, Ghana.