Wooter Africa: How Creating A Basketball Jersey Grew Into a Nonprofit Organization and Movement in Tanzania
Accompained with Tanzania National Federation’s President, Mr Phares Magesa witnessing handover on 10th July 2021 of custom apparels and women Pro-basketball from Wooterafrica CEO, Hamid Suleiman Ahmad to Honorable Temeke District Commissioner Jokate Mwegelo during the Dar es Salaam Basketball Leaders Election day where she was invited as Guest of honor and Wooterafrica C.E.O Hamid Suleiman participated as one of members of the association who are entitled to vote.
Rooted in a passion for sports, community support, and giving back through the game of basketball, Wooterafrica as organization has blossomed from a non-profit organization to one of the best kept hoops secrets throughout Tanzania, East Africa.
And it all started by creating one basketball jersey.
Within the last four years alone Wooterafrica has made an impact on youth sports and become a beacon of hope for aspiring Africans with hoop dreams of their own on the courts of cities like Unguja, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. What started in East Africa has solid roots from Staten Island, New York as customized sportswear and tech brand Wooter Apparel founded the 501(c)(3) in 2017 after then 24-year old Hamid Suleiman Ahmad contacted Wooter Apparel through social media to share his humble and heartfelt tale about growing up in Africa.
From there, Hamid and Wooter Apparel collaborated on designing and creating some basketball uniforms for him and his friends. Little did any party know , that it would become the start of an amazing relationship that’s flourished on and off of the court. Hamid and Wooter Apparel have taken a handful of custom made basketball uniforms and grown their partnership into a full-fledged non-profit organization that runs organized sports programs, leagues, clubs, teams, tournaments, and player development sessions throughout East Africa
“We’ve been growing Wooterafrica in Tanzania over the four years — all funded by Wooter — and reaching thousands of kids in need. Basic things such as enjoying the beautiful game of basketball are not easily available until now,”
-Wooter CEO, Alex Aleksandrovski.
Wooter Apparel colorfully created and outfitted teams with uniforms in Zanzibar Basketball League for 2 seasons 2017 and 2019, Morogoro in 2018 and Dar es Salaam in 2021 by providing a professional look for the talented athletes who proudly wear Wooter Africa across their chest. Wooter Apparel kept the entire league covered by also designing and producing an apparel line that included full referee uniforms, polo shirts for coaches and staff members, and jerseys and uniforms for Wooter Africa women’s basketball as well.
Supporting the community and athletes in Tanzania means not only running the in-season basketball tournament and games in Zanzibar, but also places a deeper emphasis on developing new basketball courts, running programs to boost the efforts of Wooter Africa, and providing basketballs and training equipment in underdeveloped communities.
For Hamid, the goal has always been to grow Wooter Africa to become more than just a basketball league. It’s about bringing a deeper connection to one another through sports in his own community.
“I needed this to be a platform which changes lives for players, teams and brings something different to the table from any other basketball leagues that happen around Africa,” Hamid explained about the positive influence Wooter Africa is having in East Africa.
“I thank Wooter Apparel for making the organization possible with Wooter Africa. When the very first season started I didn’t know if we could bring these teams up and elevate their play to where we took them. This is a huge moment for everyone who has witnessed and played a part in the league being a success,”
- Wooterafrica, Hamid Suleiman
Wooterafrica preparing 4th season league in Dodoma which will include 22 teams of youth under 23 and above plus women. This will be the biggest season and what is anticipated to be a brilliant showcase of young talent on the court. As the game of basketball through Wooterafrica continues to spread and grow in Tanzania, East Africa, expect to see Wooterafrica continues to play a major role in the maturation of young players as we’ve created opportunities for kids, women, and men who simply love to play the game and do more outside of basketball game.
“I want to take this time to thank everyone for pushing this league to become a movement. The more I continue this league and seasons with Wooterafrica, the more impact we will have on being a bridge to help people grow and get better together.”
Wooter Africa’s mission is to bring together communities and support the youth in Africa with sports. Wooter Africa (501c3) is an organization which runs organized sports programs including leagues, clubs, teams, tournaments, and player development and having goal of building sports facilities.
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www.wooterafrica.org