Sports

The 18th edition of the University Games, which kicked off 24th May 2015, was launched with a strong demonstration of the resolve of the Cameroonian people to fight boko haram. The opening ceremony was full of pump as the fan clubs stole the show with each fans clubs matching and dancing to the rhythm of their region of origin. Major highlighting of the launching ceremony was the lighting of the Olympic flame by Cameroon’s Roving Ambassador Roger Milla who later handed it over to the athletes.

For the next one week, the athletes from the state and private higher institutions of learning will be competing in nine Olympic disciplines namely: Basketball, football, volleyball, athletics, wrestling, judo, table tennis, lawn tennis and handball and Paralympic disciplines such as, throwing Javelin, table tennis and Powerlifting.

The National Federation of University Sport (FENASU) has introduced in this year’s competition women's wrestling, competitions in Open challenge, Miss and Master of the competition. The 18th edition of the University Games has been organised under the theme “Patriotic drive for growth and development” The ceremony that was attended by six government ministers will end on the 31st May 2015.

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.May.2015

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A last-gasp leveller from Samuel Eto'o helped misfiring Sampdoria to a 1-1 away draw with Empoli but the Genoa-based side's hopes of Europa League qualification remain in the balance. Sampdoria travelled to the Carlo Castellani stadium looking for the win that would have pulled them level with sixth-placed Fiorentina. However Sinisa Mihajlovic's men spurned a series of goalscoring chances before settling for a 16th draw of the campaign which kept them in seventh place, three points behind Fiorentina ahead of their trip to Palermo. Sampdoria remain in contention for a place in Europe's second tier competition but only because city rivals Genoa, who sit in fifth, were earlier this week denied a licence to use the Luigi Ferraris stadium for European competition.

Sampdoria share the stadium but have already lodged Sassuolo's Mapei stadium as the venue for European home games in the event they qualify for Europe. Genoa have lodged an appeal but if it is not successful Sampdoria could benefit to snatch the third and final Europa League spot. Samp coach Mihajlovic, however, was less than happy with a scenario which means his side must beat Parma in their final game of the season and hope results elsewhere go their way. "We've claimed a point, now we need to win our last game and see what happens elsewhere," Mihajlovic told Sky Sport. "Genoa are ahead of us and I take my hat off to them... but it would only be a small consolation for us if we got into the Europa League because of their misfortune."

The visitors found themselves a goal down just before the hour when Manuel Pucciarelli muscled his way through the Samp defence to beat Emiliano Viviano at the 'keeper's far post with a bouncing angled strike. Eto'o replaced Luka Djordjevic immediately after the goal and soon had a penalty appeal when he came down in a tangle of legs with Elseid Hysaj, but the referee was not convinced. Samp spurned three chances to level in a lively second half, home 'keeper Davide Bassi turning away a side-footed shot from Joaquin Correa on 75 minutes, leading to a counter-attack that saw Piotr Zielinski flash a shot just wide of Viviano's post.

Lorenzo De Silvestri then rose to meet a corner but his effort was straight at Bassi, and then Eto'o arrived just too late to get his toe to a cross fired across the goalmouth.Samp looked to be heading for a costly defeat but Eto'o secured a point for the visitors when he collected on the edge of the area and turned to fire past Bassi at the keeper's far post.

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.May.2015

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Ghana and Marseille midfielder Andre Ayew has been named the winner of this year's edition of the Marc-Vivien Foe Trophy.

The 25-year-old beat Ivory Coast's Max-Alain Gradel (Saint-Etienne)and Tunisia's Aymen Abdennour (Monaco) to the Marc-Vivien Foe Trophy.

It is set to be the last thing he will achieve as a Marseille players as he has stated he is leaving the club at the end of the season.

Ayew scored 10 goals in 27 appearances for the French giants this campaign.

He joined the club in 2007, going out on loan to L'Orient and then Arles-Avignon in the early part of his career before becoming a key member of the team.

"The president (Vincent Labrune) has spoken thus everything has been brought out into the open more or less," said Ayew, who has played 158 games and scored 43 goals for Marseille.

"I am going to leave the club and it is a page turned.

"There are lots of things behind the decision. We tried to find a solution which would enable me to stay but for both parties it was complicated, whether it be for sporting or financial reasons.

"I was expecting more, I hoped the club would have a more competitive team for next year that could be title contenders and that's not certain.

"Also the club cannot offer me the same salary that I'm on at the moment."

Ayew, whose younger brother Jordan was also at Marseille before leaving for Lorient at the beginning of the season, has attracted interest from several English Premier League clubs.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.May.2015

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Hundreds of young Basketball lovers in the North West Region converged on the Bamenda Municipal Stadium Saturday May 16, 2015, to compete in the preselection games for the Luc Mbah A Moute Basketball Camp. Though the Basketball Camp to take place in Yaounde in June is in its fifth edition, this was the very first time for the city of Bamenda to be included in the preselection. The Bamenda rendezvous came on the heels of a similar activity in the Fako Divisional Head Quarters of Buea in the South West Region on Saturday May 9, 2015, at the end of which about 30 kids were shortlisted for the draws for the final selection of 50 participants for the Yaounde Camp. 

Prominent among the postulants were the Bees Sports Academy of Kumbo that featured 43 players. To avoid corruption in the selection process the organizer of the Yaounde Camp and NBA star, Luc Mbah A Moute was present and oversaw the preselection. The Basketball kids were grouped into female category, junior males, cadet and senior males. Considering the many teams that were constituted, the preselection games lasted just 5 minutes each; but within this short space of time the kids exhibited maximum talent thus thrilling the spectators that turned out. Since just 50 participants are needed at the Yaounde Basketball Camp, after three more preselection exercises in Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala, a final list will be drawn from the several shortlist established at the various preselection meetings. The said list of 50 shall be known only at the end of the preselection exercise. 

Talking to the press after the exercise in Bamenda, Luc Mbah A Moute said from observation the younger kids from 12 and under have some base of basketball than the elderly ones “they got some talent but not a lot, but there are some kids who have good level. So well I am not disappointed because it’s good to see that there are kids playing basketball here and some of them have very good fundamentals; they need to train a lot.” He further explained that kids who will finally be selected will attend the camp in Yaounde, in June after which 5 kids will be selected to go to South Africa for the camp that the NBA puts together. From there the sky is their limit if they make it. Luc Mbah A Moute added that “some of them have gone to the US and even to the NBA. Some other ones are still in college in the US, other ones are in Europe. So it just depends on every kid’s situation. It’s just an opportunity that I try to put together for kids so that they can have a chance to use basketball to get their education.”

Questioned what motivated him to start the “Luc Mbah A Moute Basketball Camp” he said it was because when he was growing up, he never went to a camp; but when he got to the United States, he saw that every summer, kids went to at least 5 camps. During the camps the kids learn so much because many coaches come in and that is when they get better he explained. “You work on your game and become a basketball player. So I wanted to give an opportunity like this to the kids in Cameroon who are my younger brothers but I wanted to work with the best kids. So that’s why I decided to come myself and not trust anybody else to watch the kids play. As regards the Cameroon National Basketball squad Luc Mbah A Moute said he was comfortable with the national team. He added that he was looking forward to taking part in the upcoming African Cup this summer which he is positive he and his team mates will win. 

Background

Luc Mbah a Moute is a Cameroonian basketballer who plays in the US elite National Basketball Association, aka NBA. He was born on September 9, 1986 in Yaounde where he grew up. At the age of 15 he was selected to play in the national basketball cadet squad. Two years later he was selected in the first edition of the “Basketball without Borders”; a camp to detect young talents in South Africa. There he won a scholarship that took him to the Montverde Academy in Florida, USA. He later played for UCLA (2005-2008) from where he joined the NBA. From 2008 to 2013, Luc Mbah a Moute played for Milwaukee Bucks; 2013, Sacramento Kings, 2013-2014, Minnesota Timberwolves and in 2014, Philadelphia Sixers. But in 2007 he played for the national basketball team.  

Since 2010, he decided to assist young talented Cameroonians in the discipline with the hope of them gaining entrance in the NBA. Apart from helping these young Cameroonians make a rich career in basketball, he hopes that through this means Cameroon will one day become a great basketball nation like is the case with football. Four editions of the Mbah a Moute basketball cam have since 2010 been organized. Six young Cameroonians have so far won the sports/education scholarship and are presently playing basketball in America. After the first edition the following were granted scholarship in the US: Michel Ange Enanga who is presently in the University of Coastal Caroline; Luc Junior Tselan who is in Georgetown Prep high Scholl in Maryland; Moute a Bidias Roger Duclos in the University of California-Berkeley and Landry Christ Nnoko in the University of Kansas. Two more were selected after the second edition: William Tchiengang who is now in the West Oak Academy in Orlando in Florida and Joel Hans Embiid who now plays in the NBA.  

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.May.2015

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