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U.S. – Tanzania Basketball Coaches Exchange to the U.S.A.

Venue: Kilimanjaro Kempinski Hotel

September 28, 2009

Remarks by Cultural Affairs Officer Karen Grissette

Colonel Kipingu, and representatives of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Sports,
Mr. Cheyo and Tanzania Basketball Federation Officials,
Respected Basketball coaches,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning,

I am delighted to welcome you here today. You may know that the American embassy hosts many different cultural exchanges in the USA for hundreds of Tanzanians each year. This year we have sent to America women artists, Kiswahili teachers, pearl farmers, imams, librarians, and many others. Tanzanians exchange visitors learn first-hand about America. They form their own opinions about our people, our institutions, and our government. They have returned satisfied by the experience, and eager to share their knowledge. However, for those of you who follow sports, the exchange I am about to announce will be one of the most exciting this year.

The Tanzanian basketball coaches and players here are scheduled to depart tonight for an exchange visit and coaching clinic in America. For the next two weeks, these coaches will visit several states, starting in Washington DC. They will visit leading American universities. They will see sports programs for the disabled. They will learn how to grow sports programs with limited budgets. The coaches will play basketball games against adult teams, and visit Americans in their homes. They will visit sports complexes, and learn about sports programs for the youngest Tanzanians. This is not a vacation. These coaches will be working, learning, and bringing back new skills for Tanzania.

You may remember that the first half of this exchange took place last year. We all welcomed NBA star Matt Bonner and Olympian Jennifer Azzi to Tanzania to offer basketball coaching clinics. The Americans stars learned about sports in Tanzania, and were eager to continue the relationship with this country. Now, the American government has created a program to bring 20 Tanzanians coaches to the United States to see first-hand, how we run sports programs in the U.S.A.

After visiting Washington DC, these coaches will get the chance visit San Antonio, Texas, the home of Matt Bonner’s Spurs. Matt Bonner will again offer clinics to these Tanzanian coaches on his home court. Following the clinics, the coaches will watch Matt and the rest of the San Antonio Spurs play a pre-season game at the Spurs home stadium in Texas.

People have asked, how were these coaches selected? Rest assured, the embassy worked with the Ministry, with TBF, and with local basketball associations in nine regions around mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. My colleagues and I visited each region personally, and, together with local association leaders, I talked with over 100 coaches. We selected nineteen coaches and one ministry official. We picked a diverse team that includes teachers, civil servants, and businessmen and women. We have seven women and thirteen men in the group. Deputy Minister Bendera approved the final selection. We are proud of the commitment these sports ambassadors showed during interviews, and we know they are excited about this opportunity to bring back knowledge for their fellow coaches.

Of course, there are many more qualified coaches we could not select. That is why these coaches have committed, upon their return, to offer clinics in their home regions of Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Dodoma, Morogoro, Tanga, Unguja, Pemba, Arusha, and Moshi. They want to share the knowledge and experience they gain during the trip, and those clinics are a condition of their visit.

The American people are fully funding all costs for this exchange clinic for all participants, at over one hundred thousand dollars. We believe that expanding the minds of the Tanzania’s sports leaders is a wise investment of our tax dollars for the development of sports in this country.

Finally, I want to announce one of the most exciting nights of the program. On October 6, the group will watch the Washington D.C. Wizards play a very special pre-season game -- against Hasheem Thabeet’s team the Memphis Grizzlies! We are excited that plenty of fellow Tanzanians will be in the audience for one Hasheem’s first professional games!

I am hopeful that this basketball clinic and its results will further strengthen the ties between the people of Tanzania and the people of America. The U.S. Embassy is committed to encourage the growth of all youth sports in Tanzania through training of coaches and players. We want this exchange and these wonderful coaches to keep motivating young Tanzanians to live healthy and active lives, and become healthy, active, and well-educated adults!

We are proud to support the development of youth sports in Tanzania. Thank you to the Ministry and to TBF for the opportunity to partner with you. We hope for continued partnership long into the future. Thank you all very much.