Big Dunking Tasks: New basketball team to represent Nagaland at junior nationals

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, April 30 (EMN): A new basket ball association in the form of the Dimapur District Basketball Association (DDBA) was launched at Hotel Saramati in Dimapur on Mon. April 30. The new association looks to growth with the motto ‘strive for excellence’—a pursuit that has led the association to instate a team of players who will now represent Nagaland at a big platform, the 69th Junior National Championship in Punjab.
As part of the association’s commitment to sporting excellence, the group will be sending—in collaboration with the Nagaland Basketball Association—a newly formed state junior boys basketball team to Ludhiana in Punjab on Tue. May 1, for the national championship.
The championship will be conducted from May 7 to the 14th.
According to the vice president of the DDBA, Senti Longkumer, the association was accepted on April 4 by the Dimapur District Sports Council as part of the sporting institution.
The DDBA is a protégé of the Dorians Society, a well-known influencer in the sports discipline in Dimapur.
Longkumer added that the overseeing association’s objective is to take sports forward and to promote it as a productive career for the younger generation of the state.
Even prior to the official acceptance of the association by the council, the Nagaland Basketball Association having trust in its new affiliate in the form of the DDBA, assigned the latter to form junior boys team to represent Nagaland at the 66th junior nationals, Longkumer said.

During the event, Lipok Pongen, vice president of the Nagaland Basketball Association, unwound the association’s banner as part of symbolic gestures marking the launch of the association. He encouraged the players to be passionate about the opportunities they will be coming across.
A team of ten players under the age of 18 years was selected.
The association has been training the team for the past one month as part of preparations for the nationals.
The team comprises also Rajan Nayak the coach and Tiameren Amri the team’s manager.