Henry Mwinuka, the head coach of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) basketball club, has urged his players to stay focused on winning the 2019/2020 BK Basketball National League title despite the long layoff due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The topflight basketball championship will resume on September 4, nearly six months after it was suspended on March 15 – along with every other sports activity in the country.

Speaking to Times Sport on Thursday, Mwinuka said that his team’s ultimate goal this season remained to win the league title, challenging the players that "nothing should stop us, not even the pandemic!”

"All my players are in good fitness shape, the lockdown and league suspension did not stop them from training – we just changed how we trained,” said the Tanzania-born tactician. "We switched to individual training, and close monitoring from coaches.”

REG have not won the league title since 2017 when they made history of clinching the championship in their maiden season (2016/2017) in the league.

After 12 games, REG top the table with 23 points, one ahead of second-placed and two-time reigning champions Patriots.

"The title race is still wide open,” he acknowledged, noting that he did not expect Patriots to easily give up on the title, but believed his players would step up for the challenge.

Once the league restarts, teams are expected to play under a tight schedule where they will each have two to three games a week.

The season will conclude with the playoff games in December.