Afro-basket championship beckons for Zim Under-16s

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Under-16 teams are hopeful to get clearance to travel for the continent’s premier basketball finals, the Afro-basket Championships to be held in Egypt next month.

The continental juniors’ championships for boys and girls were initially scheduled for Mali, but were moved to Egypt and will run from August 6-15.

Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ)’s request to send an Under-18 boys’ and girls’ teams to the DR Congo for a 3×3 World Cup qualifier was declined by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) last week, but is hoping the Under-16s’ application will be viewed favourably.

The Under-18 application fell under a blanket ban that has been imposed on all incoming and outgoing sport tours, which the SRC said was “in the interest of public health and safety”.

Joe Mujuru, BUZ president, said the Under-16 teams have to participate in the Afro-basket Championships and they were working on the application.

“It is our hope that we get a favourable response as we seek to have grassroots sports active during the Covid-19 period. Junior development has been hard hit by the pandemic and such competitions like the continental meet give hope to our youngsters during such hard times,” said Mujuru.

Meanwhile, BUZ is hoping to retain hosting rights of the rescheduled fourth edition of the Southern Africa 3×3 basketball tournament.

Zimbabwe was given the rights to host the competition last year, but the tournament was scrapped due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

Bulawayo had been identified as the host city of the Under-18 competition dubbed “Three Lions 3×3 Southern Cup” after winning the last edition held in 2019 in Botswana.

The 3×3 Young Lions Cup South is a Youth Leadership and Basketball development project launched in 2017 and runs in the southern part of the continent.

Winning teams from each tournament are invited to international events and take part in workshops aimed at furthering their understanding of this exciting basketball format.

Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are among the nations that have taken part in the tournament. — @ZililoR