Dubai Tribe players return rich with experience from European tournament

Dubai: Dubai Tribe Basketball Club returned rich with experience after losing in the final stages of the youth basketball tournament in Europe.

The UAE expat club, comprising players from many nationalities, including USA, Canada, Palestine, UK, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Philippines, Germany, Lithuania and Netherlands, took part in the under-12 and under-13 categories and advanced from the group stage.

Dubai Tribe, the only club from middle east among the 300 teams from more than 20 countries in the youth festival in Vienna held last month, were eliminated after losing to Alba Berlin and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg, renowned clubs from Germany.

Saeed Al Naji, founder of the Dubai Tribe basketball programme, is happy with the team’s results and their progress throughout the competition. “We went to Vienna with two very young groups who were competing against older, taller and physically stronger players. Nonetheless, both teams had some great wins, improved from game to game and proved the UAE’s competitiveness on the international stage. We are glad that the players had a chance to experience this tournament and we will be ready to compete next year with more experienced teams.”