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As all eyes in the women’s game get locked onto the conclusion of the WNBA Finals and the pending FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Tenerife, we don’t go to sleep on the grass roots at BlueStar Media. (Photos – Bulgarian Basketball Federation)

During the weekend, an Under 14 girls tournament took place in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia as part of the FIBA Infrastructure Development Project which is targeted at giving less established Federations a chance to expand their respective programs.

Turkey were the most established nation involved and they participated alongside the hosts Bulgaria. Macedonia, Romania and Kosovo.

The latter country in particular is one of the newest in the global game and while they were brutally dismantled at this competition, you may recall that they made history recently at the FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship Division B.

So, they can’t be discounted altogether as one day making a possible splash. But, it is likely to take 10-20 years. At least there is strong interest in Kosovo, with 20k impressions alone on my recent tweet about that famous result.

While this tournament in Sofia was actually for boys and girls, we obviously kept most of our attention on the female side of things, with Turkey perhaps understandably expected to be the strongest nation on show.

They did win four of their games, but Turkey were stunned as Bulgaria recorded an eye-catching 41-70 success against them – something which has made a lot of people sit up and take notice.

Turkey beat Macedonia 52-38, Romania 49-35 and smashed Kosovo 75-23, but it was that reverse to Bulgaria which stood out.

The Bulgarians were excellent and had some nice support who enjoyed seeing Deana Stoyanovska star with 16 points in the victory.

Bulgaria also destroyed Kosovo 80-17 as Yana Karamfilova racked up 19 points, while it was do-it-all captain Radina Ilieva who excelled in a one-sided 59-23 lockdown of Romania as she contributed 17 points, 5 steals, 4 assists and 4 boards.

Bulgarian forward Zahra Selim was also impressive throughout and one to watch for the future.

While it is only one tournament and the opposition was not strong, it will be interesting to see if this generation of Bulgarian players can now translate their skills to #FIBAU16Europe

They have finished 18th, 13th and 13th in recent years in Division B, so they could do with a lift.

Watch this space.

Finally, for all the criticism I have given about a lack of investment in girls basketball, it’s important to recognize these kind of events are happening and give due props.

Keep it locked to @basketmedia365

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Paul Nilsen lives and breathes women’s hoops. He’s is a freelance writer working for the sport’s world governing body FIBA where he pens a weekly ‘Women’s Basketball Worldwide Column’ - as well as providing daily content on major club competitions, international tournaments and the women’s youth game. He has an extensive network of contacts across the globe, including an array of elite play-callers and players. Also a qualified coach and referee, he is a big supporter of Blue Star Media and joined as a blogger during the fall of 2016.

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