Ascend Together, an organisation that seeks to create opportunities for youth in The Gambia through basketball, in partnership with the Gambia Basketball Association, will on Saturday 9 April 2016 hold a three-on-three basketball tournament, with music and refreshment for students at the YMCA basketball court at 9:00am.
Ascend Together’s programming focuses on academic commitment, leadership, teamwork development, discipline and punctuality, according to Program Manager Alyson Lush. She added that the organization began through the efforts of several former Peace Corps volunteers who were involved in youth basketball during their time in The Gambia.
In partnership with the Gambia Basketball Association and working with schools, youth organizations and relevant organizations across the country, they aim to build the foundation for Gambian basketball at the grassroots, she said.
She noted that they are currently implementing a project called Rise Gambia, adding that the programme involves 120 Upper Basic students (60 male and 60 female students) from six schools in the Kombo; St. Therese’s, Ndow’s, Latrikunda, Apple Tree, Kotu, and SOS.
She said they started sessions on January 18 and have been running the sessions with students since that date.
Students are divided into groups of 30 depending on their timetables and their schools, she explained, saying students of LK, Ndow’s, and St. Therese’s are at St. Therese’s for practice, and students from Kotu, Apple Tree, and SOS have been practising at Kotu.
Their coaches focus on the development of students as a whole person: academically sound, physically fit, and socially conscious, she pointed out, adding: “We hold tutoring sessions with an English teacher and a math teacher for an hour before each training session, and the students will be encouraged to engage in at least two community service events throughout the next four months.”
Their training sessions for the past term did finish this past week, and to reward the students for their hard work, they have decided to hold a three-on-three tournament, with music, refreshment, and basketball to be held at the YMCA basketball court on Saturday 9 April, she said.
