Equity bank’s football and basketball teams celebrated International Labour Day in style by winning the annual Labour Day tournament which climaxed yesterday at Amahoro stadium. Equity bank football team defeated WASAC 2:0 to lift the trophy having defeated Inyange to qualify for the finals that were played on Sunday 29th April 2018 at Amahoro stadium. The 10th edition of the Ascoki Labour day tournament is an annual event organized and sponsored by Ministry of Labour and Development that started in February with teams from two categories; private and public institutions During the finals, Equity football team scored 1 goal during the first half and later scored in the second half to earn their team the title in the Private Institutions category. Though they looked like they were set to get a consolation goal, WASAC failed to net the ball home thus showing nothing for their efforts. In the Private institutions category, Equity bank played with Nyange, BK, Isco and BPR where they had to win in both categories to lift the trophy. In Basketball men, Equity recorded 89-65 over Ministry of Defence during the finals while in the mini-league women basketball, Equity bank won all games home and away coming first followed by RSSB, REG, URA and University of Rwanda simultaneously. According to Alice Muhongerwa the Equity coach, for a team to play in the finals, you had to be come first in each category. “We were led in the public category and we put up a good show and won the Labour Day tournament in all categories, Football for men and Basketball for both men and women which is a call for celebration” said Muhongerwa. “This is the first time Equity bank has played in this Labour Day tournament and it is thrilling to see that we came out as victorious in spite of the fact that we are under dogs. It really shows that the training was worth it” she added. Aline Mutambuka Head of HR& Administration at Equity said that although Equity bank has many beautiful products that they offer, they have also shown that they are winners and that means a lot. “It is always good to associate with winners and this means a lot for the bank and our clients as well. We encourage sports at Equity and we have been very supportive to our players and the rest of the staff when it comes to working out and doing sports” According to Mutambuka, for any company, camaraderie and friendship plays a very significant role in order for the business to thrive and reach higher heights wherein the company would not be the one that will benefit but also for the employees. “At Equity, the Human Resource department has been able to design and coordinate sports activities throughout the year because they are very important part of any team building and the health of staff members for any company” she added. This year, Equity bank will be participating in the Inter-Banks Tournament which is also an annual event. Last year, the participating banks were; Bank of Kigali, Access Bank, GT Bank, BPR, AB Bank, Cogebanque, Ecobank, Crane Bank, Urwego Bank, I&M Bank, Equity Bank, KCB bank, Unguka Bank and Bank of Africa.
