Del Basketball Academy | The Story of Dele ‘Coach Carter’

History: Del Basketball Academy was founded in 2012 by a coach called Dele Awonuga Simon, popularly known as Coach Carter. With his love for coaching kids and developing them in the game of basketball, coach Dele relocated to Oworosoki area, Lagos, Nigeria and saw lots of kids in the street engaging in unruly acts. This sparked the idea on how he could be of help to the little ones. With his coaching skills and charisma, he initiated the Del Basketball Academy Program, hosted his first basketball clinic that same year, with the aim of using Basketball as a tool to take kids off the streets.

Dele is from a family of 10 kids. They had a poor background, and was raised by parents who were disciplinarians. His dad was a civil servant and his mother a pastor.

Inspiration: “I grew up learning the game of basketball with Dodan Warriors – now Lagos Warriors – under the guidance of Coach Peter Ahmedu, whom I loved the way he coached and his good communication skills with players. That was what inspired me to be a coach.” He said.

At Del Academy, there are kids that have gotten scholarships to schools in Nigeria and Overseas. His mentors are Coach Ganiyu Otenigbagbe, Coach Alabi Adelanwa, Coach Peter Ahmedu and Patrick Omo-Osagie. Coach Dele says “We are just scratching the surface, and there’s still a lot to be accomplished. I have coached kids who played for the state and for the country; both boy and girls category.”

Vote of Thanks: “I want to say a big THANK YOU all who assisted us, and a very big THANKS to a sport company in Germany, that is, Forthree.com. Thank you so much”

Follow this link to view some of the pictures of the basketball clinic

Coach Dele can be reached via these Email: basketball4Africa [at]  yahoo [dot] com