The National Basketball Association (NBA), in collaboration with the US Embassy and the Cameroon Basketball Federation, on Friday announced the launch of the first Jr. NBA League in Cameroon set to tip off on Friday at Palais Polyvalent des Sports in the country’s capital of Yaounde.

The inaugural season of the Jr. NBA Yaounde League, a school-based basketball program for boys and girls ages 10-14, will be played over six weeks and conclude during the US Sports Envoy in Cameroon September 5-9 with former NBA and WNBA players in attendance.

The league features 30 teams from schools across Yaounde competing in Eastern and Western Conferences, with each school representing one of the 30 NBA teams and receiving corresponding NBA team-branded T-shirts for their games. The top eight teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs and the two conference winners will go on to face each other in the final September 7.

Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.

During the 2015-16 season, the NBA engaged more than 12 million youth through its basketball participation efforts, with Jr. NBA programs in 35 countries.

“We are excited to announce the launch of the first Jr. NBA League in Cameroon, in collaboration with the US Embassy and Cameroon Basketball Federation,” said NBA Vice President and Managing Director for Africa Amadou Gallo Fall.

“Cameroon has great ambassadors in our league, including Basketball without Borders Africa alumni Luc Mbah a Moute of the L.A. Clippers, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors. The Jr. NBA Yaounde League will help continue the great basketball tradition in the region, while also creating a new platform for youth to participate in the sport.”

“We are proud to partner with the National Basketball Association in bringing the power of sports diplomacy to Cameroon,” said United States Ambassador to Cameroon Michael S. Hoza. < “The Jr. NBA League is not just about learning the game of basketball.

Sports give everyone, regardless of height or gender, the opportunity to play, benefit and learn the core values of teamwork, dedication and perseverance. All are qualities essential to support the educational and professional goals of Cameroonian youth.

This is a slam dunk for Cameroon in youth empowerment!” “We are happy to welcome the Jr. NBA Cameroon League 2016 in Yaounde,” said Cameroon Basketball Federation President Samuel Nduku. “This is an occasion where Cameroonian youth shall benefit from the best level of team building through basketball. The ultimate goal of the league is to support strong, talented and dynamic youth who are tomorrow’s leaders.

Thank you to the NBA and the US Embassy in Yaounde for bringing this opportunity to Cameroon.” Since 2005, the NBA’s partnership with the US State Department’s Sports Envoy program has contributed to athletes and coaches visiting 16 African countries.

Every year, players and coaches conduct clinics for youth, participate in community outreach activities, and engage youth in a dialogue on the importance of leadership and respect for diversity.

The NBA has a long history in Africa with a record 10 African players featured on NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season and five African-born players selected in the 2016 NBA Draft. Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje was the first Cameroonian to play in the NBA after being selected 50th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2001 NBA Draft.

Through NBA Cares, 61 places to live, learn or play have been created in Africa, and Basketball without Borders Africa has been held 13 times. The league opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010. The NBA runs similar Jr. NBA Leagues in Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.