President of the Ghana Basketball Association Ato Van-Ess has expressed belief that the association’s latest partnership with private based enterprise New York Square LLC will yield massive results in the coming years.

The partnership with the American firm is to contribute to Ghana’s socio-economic development through the game of basketball.

The Ghana Basketball/New York Square Partnership will establish a fully integrated national basketball programme by providing the physical infrastructure, equipment and support necessary to achieve excellence in basketball.

Outlining the importance of the partnership with the American outfit, Mr Ato Van-Ess spoke to Class Sports.

“Both organisations are in line with the sustainable development goals and so now the Ghana Basketball Federation is not just organising the sports to be played, but we are contributing to the socio-economic development of Ghana by targeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Sustainable Development Goals we are targeting are as follows: three (3) for health, four (4) for education, five (5) for gender equality, eight (8) for economic growth and ten (10) for inequality amongst communities.

“So now with these, everything we do has to go through the SGD, what we are trying to do is to know how to use the sports to promote good health and well-being in Ghana and also education in the country.

“So, they [New York Square] are targeting these SGDs and we the Ghana Basketball Federation are also targeting same SGDs, so what we are going to do are the areas I have outlined,” he revealed.

The Maiden edition of the National Basketball Championship will commence on Mondau, December 12 to Thursday, December 22, 2022, in Cape Coast, Central Region with 36 teams set to compete for glory.

The event, the first of its kind organised by the Ghana Basketball Association (GBBA) will see players selected to form the national basketball team and represent Ghana at the upcoming 13th edition of the 2023 All African Games in August next year.

The 10-day event will also see veteran and physically challenged players compete for a chance to win cash prizes, trophies and medals.

The 2022 National Basketball Championship is part of initiatives by the new GBBA leadership led by Ato Van-Ess to promote the sport in the country.