Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE story of the good old days of basketball in the city is one of success and lasting memories.
Basketball was one of the most popular sport codes among the “hip” youth.
On any match day, the courts would fill up as lovers of the ball and the hoops looked up to be entertained.
This was in the grand years of the 1980s and early 90s.
Thereafter, the game took a dive. A myriad of problems dogged the once well administered game in the country.
Player development initiatives were stopped or just abandoned. The game’s leaders, at the time, had the burden to make it “business as usual” but reality would not allow it.
Players left in droves. Some called it quits. Teams folded.
In that fall, the game was almost forgotten. Those who belonged to it, took a break. Some played the game in their backyards as a favourite pastime.
Now, the sight of a number of basketball courts that are idle and dilapidated, is testimony of a game that has lost its soul.
The popularity of the game nowadays is a cause for concern. The number of young people that watch the game is far too low. Their elders broke the turnstiles when basketball was the real thing.
So, what has changed? It is still a hoops and ball game.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) president Joe Mujuru says numbers of followers may have dwindled but it’s not because of the quality in play.
“I don’t agree with the notion people use. The standards of the game have not lowered. The game is at its highest level now. The economic terrain has changed. The economy back then was allowing for people to come support the game and even the clubs to sustain themselves. That is not the case now.
“I can tell you the quality of play is at its best now but unfortunately the financial situation is tough for the fans and the club which makes things difficult. One also has to consider the counter attractions that are there like European football and other leisure sports that people would prefer to go to rather than be at basketball. We want to continue to increase the spectators and our market share should not be decreasing,” said Mujuru.
Bulawayo Basketball Association (BBA) president Sinda Mono said a lot had changed from yesteryear.
“There are a lot of changes that have taken place. Back then, clubs used to have some financial muscle and proper structures. Clubs would fundraise and do award ceremonies on themselves. The problem is the administration of clubs. Clubs used to have proper structures not having one person being in charge of everything. Basketball was a weekend thing. You will get a full house at BCD. The numbers are really picking up which is a positive.
“If we can make basketball attractive again to young people in school, then we will have a good catchment area to drive the revival of our sport, because schools are at the core of the success of any sport,” said Mono.
In evoking what they termed the “golden era of basketball”, supporters, administrators and former players say there will never be another period in the game comparable to the 1985 to 1995 period.
Young people of school-going age in Bulawayo back then were defined by their love for the game and those in their mid-40s will remember in particular the early 1990s when just moving around holding a basketball spoke volumes and determined their status among their peers.
Multiple success and fame followed Bulawayo teams and the city was the epitome of how to make the sporting discipline a tag of society’s achievement.
But after 1995, basketball began to go south, almost up to the point of extinction.
The popularity of the game waned after the star players of that golden era retired, leaving fans dejected, as all up-and-coming players had found it hard to break into teams dominated by that decade’s greats and quit the sport.
Now, only memories of that golden era live in the minds of those that watched the games.
Only those that were old enough then can testify how popular basketball was, and Sinda Mono is one of them.
Together with the late Jackson Nkau, Mono is credited with developing hundreds of basketball stars from schools such as Founders, Montrose, Northlea, Luveve, Milton, Gifford and Ihlathi High during that era.
Most players from these schools went on to become national team stars.
Mono helped Bulawayo dominate the basketball scene in the country by helping churn out a galaxy of stars, who included Basil West, Bradley de Jongh, Ernie Noble, Derbyton Williams, Brian Staal, Leslie Richardson, Zorrn Milesovik, Witness Martin, Archiford Murombedzi, Vusa Ndlovu, Chrispen Ngqa Ndebele, Justin Mpofu, Filaviasi Zharare, Unita Dube, Angela Chikomba, Vimbai Muhomba, Rose Phiri, Rose Marshall, Fungai Sibanda and Maggie Soutter. – @innocentskizoe
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