Dankind Academy and East African Basketball Hub is a sustainable project aiming to use education and sport as vehicles for progress and development in Kampala, Uganda. With a purpose built basketball facility we will have a location to educate, mentor and train 96 talented male and female 14-18 year old student-athletes. Our campus will also be used consistently for all domestic and international basketball events, camps, clinics, tournaments, leagues and local youth programs.

From 2012-2014 Dankind Academy was the number 1 youth basketball program in East Africa and after two seasons in Kenya the academy were crowned Nairobi Basketball Association Champions and managed to have 14 players go on to higher education all around the world thanks to full athletic scholarships in the USA, Japan, Spain, Kenya and Uganda. Since then we have had over 30 scholarships worldwide.

Dankind Academy 2014

Dankind Academy is a humanitarian project inspired by former East African NBA players Luol Deng and Manute Bol who have given back so much in their home nation of South Sudan. We hope to encourage the next generation of aspiring basketball players from all nations in Africa to follow their example. We want our graduates to further their education and we will assist them in acquiring full athletic scholarships at colleges and universities around the world. Our goal is to prepare our alumni to become gainfully employed adults and if possible professional basketball players while also becoming a brother and sisterhood that assemble as a growing group of charitable role models dedicating 10% of their future earnings to creating a bright future for their communities, nations and next generation.

Follow this link to find out more about the plan for Dankind Academy and the East African Basketball Hub:

https://youtu.be/uqATDXXPoaI?si=kN8ArbhLizGpHTkz

Follow this link to find out more about how Dankind Academy started in Nairobi, Kenya:

https://youtu.be/Wci9ZBRFR-8?si=kQ1lV1gbnFfLnOhK

Dankind Academy is currently hosting sessions during the school vacations in Uganda. We rent courts, provide water, referees, photographers and videographers to film young players, make mixtapes and attract high school coaches in the USA who are willing to give them athletic scholarships. We then help the youth with the Visa process and wish them all the best.

Our next goal is to build a basketball academy where high school student athletes can learn, train and flourish without leaving Africa. It will also be a location to be used as an East African basketball hub used constantly by FUBA, FIBA, NBA and community in and around Kampala. Entry fees will sustain the academy and we hope to invite guests from around the globe to visit, enjoy, share knowledge and contribute to the flourishing of the academy and community.

How We Will Do It

The following are the structures we will construct:

Indoor Arena, Outdoor Courts, Cafeteria, Gym, Dormitories, Outdoor Amphitheatre, Education Center

We will build the academy on a 5 acre plot of land with a surrounding wall, car park for visitors and each building will have solar panels on the roof and a water filtration system.

Indoor Arena

The Arena has room for just under 4,000 spectators with 10 Gold sponsors VIP Luxury Boxes at the top of the stands. There are many places for sponsors to advertise from hanging on flags coming down from the rafters to on the court which will be a wood floor with only basketball lines. Brands can even appear on the sides and bottom of the baskets. The arena will include locations to buy beverages and food. The stadium contains home, away and referee changing rooms, media boxes and there will be offices for both Dankind Academy and the Federation of Ugandan Basketball Associations. There will be a press room for post game interviews. This will be a place to host both all domestic and international competitions.

Outdoor Courts

There will be four FIBA regulation courts all equipped with baskets that have fibre glass backboards. These will be used on a daily basis in the mornings and afternoons by the academy and have floodlights so they can be used until late in the evenings and open to be used by the public and/or teams. There will always be at least one court that is available for streetball and basketball enthusiasts to use without the need to be a registered player in any of the teams and leagues.

These outdoor courts also have stands and can be used by FUBA for the Division 1 and 2 games, tournaments and other events with plenty of room for sponsors logos to appear. On the weekends they can be used by other local youth programs.

Cafeteria

This building can easily host 125 people at a time and will be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner by the academy but also doubles as a restaurant on game days for visitors. It has an indoor area downstairs and there is a terrace on the second floor.

Gym

The gym is another building that will be used by both the academy athletes and accessible to the public. This building will contain all of the state of the art weights and equipment with lockers, two offices, toilets and showers while at the back of the building there will be a laundry room.

Dormitories

Two dormitories will be at the back of the academy (one for the females and one for the males.) The dorms consist of rooms of 6 and each building can host up to 48 student athletes. Each player will have their own queen size bed with room for a night table, their own wardrobe and a separation wall. Shared bathrooms with toilets and showers are on every floor.

Outdoor Amphitheatre

This can be used for a variety of different purposes but on a daily basis will have a projector and screen to show not just basketball games and documentaries but also documentaries in general and movies for the academy students and general public to enjoy.

Education Center

The Dankind Academy Education centre is a two story building with four classrooms that each have room for 30 student athletes who will be engaging in assisted Oxford Learning by distance courses with teachers guiding them on an academic route and graduating with IGCSE and A - Levels. The classrooms will be equipped with hard copies of all the books necessary but also computers for each student. Each classroom will have an interactive white board with projectors for video content such as documentaries to assist their learning and Khan Academy videos. The whole building will have a Wi-fi connection to be used for academic purposes only. The British system will be at the core of the curriculum but students will also be instructed in an intensive preparation for an American equivalency exam and SAT/ ACT tests for eligibility at colleges and Universities in the USA.

Full Scholarship

Education can often be too expensive and out of reach in East Africa and we will be providing full scholarships that will lead to further full athletic scholarships worldwide.

Our Scholarships consist of the following all for free:

- Accommodation including bedrooms, beds, showers, toilets and individual wardrobes.

- Food (3 meals a day and filtered water)

- Uniforms for school, team and practice uniforms with laundry taken care of.

- Access to computers, books, library and video room.

- British High school education.

Social Media

We R Ballers is the social media partnership that will be in charge of promoting East African basketball with the academy as a base. Both We R Ballers and Dankind Academy are constantly posting pictures and videos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

East African Basketball Hub

The Academy will be part of a one of a kind in Africa “East African Basketball Hub”. The arena will be the centre piece of the hub which will also include multiple spectator friendly outdoor basketball courts with solar panels to generate power during the day and flood lights so the public can use the courts at night. The hub will be used for leagues, camps, events all of which will be filmed and posted to all main social media. The idea is that by charging entry fees for the events hosted at the hub we will be able to use the profit to sustain the running costs of the academy.

The following is a list of basketball activities that will take place at the Hub :

Federation of Uganda Basketball Association (FUBA) league games
Uganda All-Star game
Ugandan high school basketball playoff and finals
East African high school basketball tournament
Inter -City games tournament
East Africa FIBA zone 5 games/ tournament
National team training centre
National team games
Wheelchair basketball games
FIBA 3X3 qualifiers
Basketball Without Borders summer camp
Luol Deng & Giants of Africa summer camp
Play 4 Peace Tournament
Giants of Africa summer camp
Midnight Madness
Fightball & Full Court 21 competition
Referee & Coaching clinics

Charity

An important part of the Dankind Academy program is to produce role models and charitable individuals off the court. In Nairobi the players and staff engaged in the local community by making frequent trips to hospitals, orphanages and assisting other charities and foundation and the students attending the academy will do the same in and around Kampala, Uganda.

Members of the academy who become professional basketball players will dedicate 10% of their salaries in the future to both sustain the academy and to aid in the development of their nation.

We want the Dankind Academy alumni to form a foundation where they assemble and join forces at annual reunions where members can propose, make contributions and vote on the undertaking of large scale charity projects such as:

- Building schools, hospitals, libraries, basketball courts and preplanned communities.

- Investing in solar energy to provide for deprived neighbourhoods.

- Building water pumps in areas with little access to water.

- Motivational public speaking to inspire the youth.

What Your Donation Will Do

Your generosity will allow us to make this dream of building the academy and basketball hub a reality. The following is a list that consists of everything that your donation will afford us from initial building costs to ongoing costs and staff. This is a sustainable project so once built the entry fees to all events will keep the academy running far into the future.

Initial Costs

Land, Indoor Arena, Outdoor Courts, Outdoor Amphitheater, Education Center, Dormitories, Staff Accommodation, Gym, Cafeteria, Parking Lot, Boundary Wall, Designs, Council Approval, Filming Equipment, Office Supplies.

Annual Costs

Electricity, Water, Wi-Fi, Food, Cleaning Materials, Office Supplies, Sports Equipment, Recruitment, Medical Costs.

Staff

Director, Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Coaches, Recruiter, Tecahers, Security Guards, Chefs, Cleaners, Physiotherapist, Film Crew, Accountant, Marketing.

Thank you in advance for any help and support that you can offer and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via e-mail: dankindacademy@gmail.com

Dankind Academy and East Africa Basketball Hub

Mentoring, Training and educating student-athletes in Kampala, Uganda

Team Members