The local basketball governing body, Ferwaba is working round the clock to raise a formidable national junior team for this year’s Zone V junior championship. The championship is scheduled for April and although the venue is yet to be confirmed, Rwanda is one of those countries vying to stage the event. 

According to the federation’s assistant technical director Innocent Karuhije, the federation has named a 30-man provisional team from which twelve players will be selected to represent the country.

The national sports holiday program and the inter-schools competitions have been the selection forums for the 30-man provisional team and Karuhije further noted that this team would be beefed up with all those players who feature in the national basketball league and are below 21-years of age.

"The holiday sports program and the inter-schools competitions certainly made the selection a lot easier because we were able to select 30 good players from over 400 players who were part of these competitions,” Karuhije explained.

The championship also acts as a qualifying forum for the African Cup of Nations junior tournament that is scheduled for August in Cairo, Egypt.

During the national junior team’s last outing in the inaugural Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOCA) Games that were staged in Nairobi in 2006, Rwanda stunned the region with a remarkable performance. 

Rwanda settled for a silver medal after losing (62-87) to Egypt in a thrilling final that had attracted nine countries.

On her way to the final, Rwanda had thrashed Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and the hosts Kenya.
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