12/06/2025
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MESSAGE OF HOPE
The Sierra Leone Basketball Federation (SLBF), led by Ali Hijazi as president, is proudly honoured to have concluded the first-ever National Basketball League on the 8th of June, 2025 in a historic showpiece at Victoria Park.
This is the adventure of a long journey, but with dedication, passion, and collaboration, we accomplish it in a grand style.
In a highly anticipated final of 5 game series between Sierra Titans and Forcians, the Wilberforce-based club Forcians won the Championship with three straight games.
Afrimoney, the primary sponsor of the first-ever Nationwide Championship, the Federation handed over Thirty Thousand New Leones as cash prizes to Forcians in the Award Ceremony on Sunday, 8th June 2025. This is the prize money allocated to any basketball competition in the country’s basketball history. Sierra Titans, the runners-up, were given Ten Thousand New Leones.
However, Dock Cannols bagged home Seven Thousand New Leones as the Division-2 champions after defeating Goderich Blazzer in the final, who were given Three Thousand New Leones as the runners-up
The Pelicans female side was crowned Queens of Basketball in 2025 and received a cash prize of Two Thousand New Leones whereas runners-up Net Hoopsterz female from Kenema took Five Hundred New Leones home.
In a brief statement, the president, Ali Hijazi, congratulated the winners and encouraged all the other teams to continue in their development and practice to be successful in future competitions. The president also continued to assure basketball fans and all Sierra Leoneans of his commitment to improving basketball in the country and increasing the pe*******on of the sport being played nationwide.
"When I took over the Federation less than two years ago, we started with a national basketball gala in Kenema in 2023. Also, a year ago, we travelled with our under-16 male team to Senegal and brought home the second position medal in the FIBA Africa Zone 2 Tournament. We have organised an international friendly in Liberia, and for the first time in 18 years, we played host to an international basketball friendly. We will keep pushing for more opportunities as we are currently lobbying for sponsorship to get our Under 16 male for the AfroBaskets preliminary qualification, " the President pointed out.
He concluded by thanking Africell/Afrimoney Sierra Leone for their sponsorship and Elephant Bets Sierra Leone for their technical sponsorship, respectively. He heaped praise on the clubs' management, regional associations, and officials for their professionalism throughout the league that left no violence mark.
As Forcians dominated the league, all individual awards were drawn from the squad, ranging from its superstar Kenneth Thomas Samuels winning the Most Valuable Player's award for his extraordinary talent showcase throughout the league, leading his side's championship triumph. Noah Ajibu Kabba named Most Improved Player. Francis Lamin showed a big man game and was named Rockie Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
🔘 SLBF MEDIA