- Title: Senegal's rising women's basketball star wins big at camp
- Date: 9th August 2019
- Summary: SALY, SENEGAL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SLOW MOTION OF BASKETBALL PLAYER BINETA DIATTA ROLLING BALL ON FINGER (SOUNDBITE) (French) BASKETBALL PLAYER, BINETA DIATTA, SAYING: "My name is Bineta Diatta, I'm 16 and basketball is my passion." VARIOUS OF GIRLS DOING DRILLS TO WARM UP (SOUNDBITE) (French) BASKETBALL PLAYER, BINETA DIATTA, SAYING: "It's not a hobby but a passion, I really love this sport." VARIOUS OF BINETA WITH GROUP OF PLAYERS LISTENING TO COACH (SOUNDBITE) (French) BASKETBALL PLAYER, BINETA DIATTA, SAYING: "First of all I want to play in the Senegal national team and I want to join the WNBA. I want to play in the Olympics. I have a lot of dreams." VARIOUS OF BINETA WALKING BACK HOME FORMER WNBA PLAYER, ASSISTANT COACH AT UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY AND MOTHER OF BINETA, ASTOU NDIAYE-DIATTA, WATCHING BASKETBALL GAME WITH HER CHILDREN BINETA WATCHING GAME ASTOU WATCHING GAME ASTOU'S SON, BOUBACAR, WATCHING GAME
- Embargoed: 23rd August 2019 09:52
- Keywords: Basketball Without Border NBA WNBA SEED Academy NBA Africa Luol Deng
- Location: SALY, SENEGAL
- City: SALY, SENEGAL
- Country: Senegal
- Topics: Basketball,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001ARHY6V3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Sixteen-year old Bineta Diatta has spent a week honing her skills dribbling, shooting hoops and defending during a week of intensive training at the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp in Senegal.
The BWB is an annual event organised by the NBA (National Basketball Assocation) and FIBA, the International Basketball Federation normally held in South Africa but staged in Senegal this year.
Diatta is aiming high and dreams of playing in the Olympics.
The BWB camp brings together the best under-17 male and female players. In total 60 young people from 29 African countries received top coaching from current and former NBA players.
Diatta is one of four Senegalese female basketball players at the camp.
She started playing basketball when she was 8 years old and living in the United States with her mother. But it wasn't until she returned to Senegal and joined the SEED academy in Thies in 2016 that she got really serious about basketball as a career.
Diatta grew up as a triplet. Her brother Boubacar and sister Ndiasse all play basketball but Bineta is the strongest.
The budding star had a good head start. Her mother is Astou Ndiaye, 2003 WNBA Champion and NBA Academy Africa Associate Technical Director.
Ndiaye has played the highest levels of the game in the US and Europe.
She began playing at age 13 in Senegal. After attending university in the US on a basketball scholarship, she played with several WNBA teams and also for the 'Lionnes', Senegal's national women's basketball team.
The same year she gave birth to the triplets Ndiaye won the world championship with the Detroit Shock in 2003.
Despite her huge success and juggling a stellar sporting career while raising a family, Ndiaye said that when she started there was not much of a structure and support for women athletes.
She was driven by her passion but says there was "no clear path" to follow:
But today things are different for Senegal's young athletes and for her daughter. The SEED academy was founded in 1998 to develop basketball skills alongside a full education. In 2016 NBA Africa opened a training centre in the seaside resort area of Saly. And this year the NBA is building the first Basketball Africa League (BAL), a 12-team league expected to start play in January next year.
Two-time NBA all star Luol Deng, who last played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was at the camp to train the boys teams. He said he is noticing the change with talented African players coming up.
Deng, originally from South Sudan, emigrated to the UK at the age of 15 when his parents fled the war in 1995. After a brilliant basketball career with the NBA Deng returned to Africa and helped raise funds with the United Nations and some charities that total millions of dollars to deliver aid and build schools, hospitals, water stations and more in South Sudan.
"It's great, it's amazing. For me, you know growing up in Africa and to see this it’s amazing. It’s just giving an opportunity that we never had and now it’s paying off and showing the potential of what Africa can be once we give it a chance and give these kids an opportunity," he said.
At the end of the BWB camp, Bineta received the 'most valuable player' award making her one of Senegal's most promising young basketball players and a star amongst Africa's female players.
(Production: YVONNE BELL / CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE / HORACI GARCIA) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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