Nothing But Nets

Pairing of sports and public health is working! Today Nothing But Nets and the UN Foundation were guests at a court opening in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria. There, 100 kids, their coaches and parents participated in a basketball clinic sponsored by the NBA and Sprite. Nothing But Nets was featured as the main public health message to raise awareness about malaria. The international press was on site and interviewed the UN Foundation, NBA, Sprite, and our spokesperson, NBA Basketball player Sam Perkins.

Mr. Sam Ahmedu, Director of the Warriors basketball academy where the court was built stated, “If one of my kids is talented enough to make it to the NBA, he first has to learn to live a healthy active lifestyle and sleep under an insecticide treated net. If he has malaria he will be too sick to play and worse yet, could die.” Not something most NBA players worry about everyday.

We were so excited how well it worked to pair sports with public health. The kids all got to listen about malaria prevention; then promised to be safe by yelling, Nothing But Nets!

Tomorrow, Sam Perkins and the Nothing But Nets team will spend the day in rural communities with the Lagos State Ministry of Health – and we’ll keep you posted.