Bulawayo community challenged

Ngqabutho Moyo Sports Reporter
THE Basketball Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Joe Mujuru has appealed to the Bulawayo community to show the same support they showed during the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Games in their preparations for the Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games qualifiers to be held from February 20-27 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

“The Bulawayo community showed us a lot of support during preparations for the Region 5 Games, we’re hoping that they’ll show the same support during our preparations for the Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games qualifiers,” said Mujuru.

He said a campaign to spread awareness on the event would start this month in Bulawayo.

Mujuru said they would be setting up a management committee that would work on the fundraising aspect.

Five countries are expected to take part in the qualifiers namely Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and hosts Zimbabwe.

Mujuru said they are planning to hold fundraising dinners and hopefully get assistance from the government through the SRC.

“We’re planning to hold fundraising dinners, source sponsorships from the corporate people countrywide and hopefully get assistance from the government through the SRC,” he said.

The BUZ secretary general said both the men’s and women’s national teams have already started preparations for the qualifiers.

“Both teams started preparations for the events last year and will be moving to Bulawayo for the final camp on the last week of this month,” he said.

Mujuru said the qualifiers had earlier been set for November 20 to 27 but had to be postponed to give way to some renovations that are being made at the venue.

“There’re some renovations that needed to be made at the venue and that forced us to postpone the event from November last year,” he said.

Mujuru said the legacy that the Region 5 Games left for Bulawayo is starting to show and should be kept alive by the successful holding of many more international events.