RWANDA National Basketball League side IPRC- South will be seeking to put up a memorable performance in Kampala as the club makes its debut at the FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championship, which is scheduled for October 1-7 at Lugogo Indoor Arena in Kampala, Uganda.

 Uganda’s City Oilers (men) and KPA (women) of Kenya are the defending champions. Huye-based Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) qualified for East Africa’s flagship showpiece last year after overcoming Patriots to win the playoff games.

 Rwanda will be represented by three teams, IPRC- South and Patriots in men’s category, and APR in the women’s category.

In an exclusive interview with IPRC- South’s head coach Charles Mushumba on Tuesday, the tactician said his players are in good mood and great form for the competition.

 "We are ready for the tournament. We have had good preparations here in Huye District; players are fit, and ready to represent well the country in Uganda. We are debutants, but, that won’t be an excuse to perform poorly,” the former University of Rwanda (UR) coach told this paper.

Captained by DR Congo-born point-guard Guillet ‘Yesman’ Bushiri, IPRC- South looks to at least make it out of group stages on their debut.

"Reaching knock-out stages would not be bad as debutants. That will be our primary target, and then from there we will be eyeing the title one game at a time. It is going to be a tough run, we are aware. It is not an impossible feat,” he added.

A day before the competitions start, there will be a technical meeting to make draws and that is when fixtures will be announced. The week-long tournament will be contested by 19 teams from 8 regional countries namely, Ethiopia, Somalia, Egypt, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

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