Vusumuzi Dube
Simba Jemwa, Online Correspondent
LOCAL milling company, Unimills, have added another feather to their youth empowerment drive by sponsoring Bulawayo basketball club, Angels.
Angels will be taking part in the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe Regional Club Play-offs that kick-off in Gweru on Saturday.
The company paid RTGS 18 000 towards Angels’ participation and pledged to do more if the side qualifies for the national finals.
Winners from the regional event qualify for the National Club Championships which will be held in Bulawayo at the end of this month.
Unimills already has a sports-based youth empowerment program through Unimills-Hokoyo Cycling Club and are currently the number ranked road racing club in the country.
Unimills-Hokoyo team principal, Davis Muhambi said the decision to sponsor Angels was an easy one for his company because it is in tandem with Unimills’ focus on empowering youths through sport. He said it was important for his company to assist the girl child’s participation in sport.
“We are very excited at the opportunity to work with Angels Basketball Club. We are already invested in cycling through Unimills-Hokoyo but we felt that it is also important to empower the girl child in competitive sport. If they qualify for the national finals, then I see no reason why we cannot continue to assist the club,” he added.
Angels’ founder, Durrel Adams welcomed the sponsorship and hailed it as a step in the right direction for the girl child. Adams said when he formed the basketball club, his focus was empowering the girl child to participate in basketball and Unimills’ gesture was in line with his vision of promoting sports participation across all genders.
“We are grateful to Unimills for their sponsorship. They share the same vision I had when I started this basketball club which was to empower the girl child,” Adams told Sunday News Online. @RealSimbaJemwa
Online Reporter