dyton mupawaenda
Innocent Kurira
BASKETBALL Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) president Joe Mujuru says the recently concluded International Basketball Federation Youth Camp in Harare last week is the beginning of the selection process for junior national teams ahead of next year.
The event was an eight-day camp with the first four days focusing on the training of technical officials and coaches by NBA and Fiba-certified coaches.
The next four days centred on the players under the age of 15 who also took part in skills learning also under the watch of Fiba coaches.
This was the first ever Fiba Youth Camp to be held in the country and had over 30 players.
Mujuru described the camp as a success.
“We are pleased to have pulled this one off. We managed to have officials and players coming in from all around Zimbabwe. We had a Fiba-certified coach from Kenya conducting the programme. The big takeaway was we managed to start our national team selection process.
“We have a busy schedule for the junior teams next year and we are hoping to send in strong teams for those competitions next year. The talent on display in the camp gives us confidence that we will be a force to reckon with in the next few years,” said Mujuru.
The idea behind the camp was to leave a legacy of technical wealth in the country. The Youth Camp compliments the “Her World, Her Rules” (HWHR) campaign which is Fiba’s most recognised initiative in women’s basketball.
As part of Fiba’s commitment to further develop the game of basketball for women and girls, Fiba has made Women in Basketball a key focus of their strategic priorities.
Meanwhile, the Bulawayo Basketball Association (BBA) is set to go on a month-long festive break starting on December 22.
BBA secretary-general Francis Dube said the league programme will continue in January.
“Our league programme has sailed smoothly to date. Since we are in the festive season we will take our annual break before resuming in January next year.
“We are happy to have hosted two tournaments this year which are the Khanyisile Foundation and Lakers Foundation tournament. We look forward to more competitions next year,” said Dube.
Online Reporter