But to turn the corner, there needs to be more financial investment by countries and exposure to the sport. FIBA Africa Regional Director Alphonse Bil\u00e9 is optimistic and doesn\u2019t believe it would take much to turn things around.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s correct that if there would be more investment in the women\u2019s game in Africa, it could help teams to achieve quickly,\u201d Bil\u00e9 said through a translator. \u201cIt actually would be easier in the women\u2019s game then the men\u2019s because the gap is smaller. So just to invest a little bit more, you have the opportunity to grow really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bil\u00e9 has held many roles in Africa, from playing for the Ivory Coast to coaching and eventually serving as the Secretary General of FIBA Africa. He feels that if countries invest more money into the women\u2019s programs, African nations \u2014 which have only won nine games in its history in the World Cup \u2014 could be medal contenders in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s many more countries now that are competitive, battling for spots in Africa\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest difference from years ago when there were only a few teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mali showed flashes of being competitive in games, despite going 0-5 in the tournament. However, more attention was given to a fight between two players in the mix zone after a loss to Serbia then what they did on the court.<\/p>\n
Mali\u2019s coach Joaquin Brizuela Carrion agrees with Bil\u00e9 that three or four teams from Africa could at least reach the quarterfinals if those countries invested more into programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just takes more investment from the countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nigeria had a major breakthrough at the last World Cup, making the quarterfinals before falling to the U.S. It was the first time that any African country had reached the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Nigeria qualified for this tournament in Australia, but a dispute between the government and the basketball federation resulted in the team not traveling to Sydney. Mali replaced the Nigerian squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate because Nigeria could have been competitive,\u201d Bil\u00e9 said. \u201cWe tried everything to make it for the women (here) but because of deadlines, it wasn\u2019t possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides investment, Bil\u00e9 said exposure to the game could help grow the sport. FIBA hasn\u2019t announced the location of the next World Cup. Bil\u00e9 mentioned there were a few African countries in Sydney to potentially look at putting in a bid for the 2026 tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some countries here that came here to see a bit of the organization and they are interested in exploring the idea,\u201d he said. \u201cThe men\u2019s tournament is too big, but the women\u2019s one could be a good moment now to organize in Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were full arenas in Senegal two years ago for the AfroBasket tournament with 15,000 people in attendance. Bil\u00e9 envisions even more fans would come out if Africa hosted the World Cup, which has never been on the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are potentially good things ahead for women\u2019s basketball in Africa despite the lack of success in international competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":19483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4],"tags":[7,14,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-19486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-sports","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n