For the launch of its annual action plan as the one and only structure bringing together sports journalists from the public and private media in Gabon, the Gabonese Sports Press Union (UGPS) is making a strong start. The union led by Rodrique Bekalé has organised on January 29 and 30, a capacity-building seminar for its members on the rules that are governing basketball.
CRUCIAL SEMINAR The two-day session was aimed at equipping members with the required tools for better basketball coverage. “Like any other sport, basketball has specific rules, a particular environment, a unique language. To properly analyse or comment on an event related to basketball it is crucial to have good knowledge on all these regulatory and technical-tactical parameters,” UGPS President Rodrigue Bekale explained the importance of the seminar.
PARTNERSHIP The seminar came a week after the president of the Gabonese Basketball Federation (FEGABAB) Willy Conrad Asseko’s visit to the UGPS resulted in a partnership between the two organisations. Through this first activity, the basketball federation and the sports journalists union expressed their willingness to work together for the development of a sport discipline riddled with internal quarrels.
“TIME OUT” The capacity-building seminar on basketball and its rules closed the FEGABAB’s “Time out” week. “Time out” is the essential point of the basketball conference initiated by the FEGABAB to bring together all the stakeholders of the orange ball in the country.
Five months earlier, the UGPS held a similar activity on football in partnership with the Gabonese Football Federation. These initiatives will enable the members of the Union to be, in the short and medium-term, aware of the functioning of the federations and their roles in addition to acquiring knowledge on the targeted sport disciplines.
BASICS These training opportunities are also used to remind participants of the basics of the profession with particular emphasis on ethics and deontology, as well as the need to improve the editorial content of the media, particularly sports media, in a context of the perpetual search for excellence.
For journalists, the seminar was very enriching. The UGPS intends to continue in this path by inviting other federations and other sports entities to engage in this policy of experience sharing and collaboration for a better sport.
