Yemaly camps : inclusive basketball in Gabon

An initiative by Géraldine Robert

Voted most valuable player (MVP) in 3 different national leagues, Géraldine Robert is one of the most successful African female basketball players. Her career with the Gabon national team reached its peak at the 2015 Afrobasket tournament. She founded Yemaly and is also the national coordinator for the school and university championship in Gabon.

For more than 10 years, Yemaly has been using basketball as an educational tool for young people. Its basketball camps, which are held during the school holidays, and its donations of sports and school equipment contribute to the self-fulfilment and personal development of Gabonese youth.

Context

The National Development Plan of the Gabonese National Office for the Development of Sport and Culture contains several major objectives, including the use of sport to promote the well-being of local communities, foster social cohesion and, in broader terms, contribute to the economic and social development of Gabon.

The city of Port-Gentil still does not have enough sports facilities and lacks an adequate supply of leisure activities to meet the expectations of young people and their families. Alcoholism, delinquency and the lack of sexual health education are also major issues.

Under the leadership of former French-Gabonese international basketball player Géraldine Robert, the association Yemaly was created to address the lack of leisure activities during the school holidays. It has organised basketball camps every summer since 2011. Hundreds of children have also benefited from school and sports equipment donations. The association now wants to go even further and keep its activities going throughout the school year by opening the first basketball academy for girls and boys in Gabon.

Goals

Open a basketball academy for girls and boys
Promote the well-being, education and social inclusion of youth through basketball
Promote gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women through sport

Activities

Providing basketball training sessions three times a week and twice-weekly academic support classes
Renovating a recreational area and basketball court to foster safe and adaptable training
Building a classroom for the academic support courses
Implementing a Women’s Empowerment programme to promote the independence of girls and women and develop their leadership skills

Watch the Yemaly camps in action

Impacts

100 young people, 50% of them girls receive schooling at the Yemaly camps
Three coaches recruited to run the basketball training sessions
Access to the recreational area outside training times for the local communities
More than 2,000 young people have taken part in the Yemaly basketball camps since 2011
More than 1,000 children have benefited from sports and school equipment donations