Basketball Fever Takes Over Algeria

WNBA All-Star Andrea Stinson leads a dribbling drill at a basketball clinic in Algiers (F. Azira)

The Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports Envoy Program brought NBA Legend Sam Perkins and WNBA stars Andrea Stinson and Shameka Christon to Algiers and Tipaza for youth basketball clinics  November 9-13.  The four clinics took place at Salle Hydra in Algiers, the National Sports High School in Draria, and the Omnisports Center in Tipaza for around 600 Algerian boys and girls aged 7-17.  Team work, perseverance, sacrifice, excellence, dedication and enthusiasm for sport were values that the American basketball stars impressed upon the young Algerian hopefuls as they worked on their defensive, passing, shooting, and dribbling skills.  In addition to the clinics, each participant received a certificate and a new pair of basketball shoes to inspire them in their dreams on and off the court.

In a public-private partnership, the American sporting goods company, Reebok, donated 4,000 pairs of basketball shoes to the clinic participants as well as to all the wilaya (province) youth basketball clubs in the country, which were distributed in a ceremony on November 30.  The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Algerian Basketball Federation worked in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Algiers to make the clinics a success and to distribute the shoes to other young Algerian basketball hopefuls. 

Basketball skills clinics photos