Basketball: Under-18 teams selection underway

The national basketball federation is in the process of selecting the national U-18 teams (boys and girls), which will represent Rwanda at the 2014 Africa Youth Games scheduled to be held in Gaborone, Botswana.The 3 on 3 Street ball tournament, held over weekend at Amahoro indoor stadium, was also part of the selection events.The two-day tournament, organised by Ferwaba, in partnership with Crowd Management Protocol (CMP), saw only junior teams (Under-18) participating after senior teams (men and women) did not register as had earlier been anticipated.Twenty boys’ and only four girls’ teams graced the competitions.Maison de Jeunes Kimisagara (MJK) team claimed the boys’ title after a narrow 14-12 win over SOS Kacyiru on Sunday, while Hope beat Nziza 10-9 to win the girls category.Each team comprised of four players, including one substitute and the each game lasted 10 minutes.“Selection is designed for meant for early preparations for next year’s All Africa Youth Games and grassroots level preparations of our national teams in general,” national team head coach Moise Mutokambali told this paper on Tuesday.According to Mutokambali, there are three selection centres in the City of Kigali, namely SOS Kacyiru, Club Rafiki in Nyamirambo and IFAK in Kimihurura.He said so far around 120 players (boys and girls) have been detected but the final selection will see 40 boys and 30 girls start camping from which the final team will be picked for the African meet.Mutokambali disclosed that not only the Under-18 players are being selected, but the federation is looking for Under-16 players for further development as well.

Sports

Basketball: Under-18 teams selection underway