Habiyaremye on nurturing young basketball talents

As the demographics in Africa and the world change, more focus is being put in growing and nurturing raw talent. Since 2014, Patrick Habiyaremye, a basketball player, has dedicated some of his time to nurturing raw basketball talents across the country, especially in Kigali, and the results from this youth basketball development program are enormous. Through the Elite Sports Africa Basketball – Rwanda Chapter, an organisation that shields kids from exposure to criminality through sport, the 28-year Habiyaremye has been able to train, mentor and guide a number of youngsters to discover their basketball talent. Some have now featured for the national junior teams. Sunday Sport’s Damas Sikubwabo talked to Habiyaremye about his basketball career and his passion to discover and turn raw talent into the next generation of basketball stars. Below are the excerpts; Let’s start with a brief introduction about yourself I am Patrick Habiyaremye, a point guard with Rwanda Energy Group (REG) basketball team and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree holder from Uganda Christian University. Currently, I am working at Rwanda Standards Board (RSB). When did you start playing basketball, and what was your motivation? I first started playing basketball in 2001, at the time I was in senior one at Lycée de Kigali. It was the most popular sport at school and all my friends played it, so I was simply looking for fun. By the time I was in senior five (in 2005), I was already playing for the school’s basketball team and represented the school in various tournaments in high school. Afterwards, I proceeded to Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2009 and immediately joined the varsity junior side (UCU JV), where I played for two seasons before I was promoted to the university’s first-team (UCU Canons) in 2011. I also played there for three years – till 2013. How many teams have you played for so far? I have been in the game for close for ten years now. I am currently playing at my fifth club – since the 2009 debut with UCU junior team. I started with UCU juniors from 2009 to 2011, then got promoted to UCU senior team from late 2011 to 2013 before I returned to Rwanda. In 2014, I signed for Kigali Basketball Club (now defunct) and played there for a few months before crossing to Patriots Basketball Team in 2015 for two seasons – until October 2016. From November 2016, I call Rwanda Energy Group (REG) home. After two seasons at the club, we have been able to win several games together and look forward to winning many more. What have been your major achievements so far? I have been blessed to play for many winning teams that took numerous medals and trophies. Among others, the major ones include winning two consecutive Rwanda national basketball league titles in 2016 and 2017, with Patriots and REG basketball team respectively. In the 2017/2018 season, I have already won the National Heroes Day tournament and Genocide Memorial Tournament (local and regional) titles. I also previously won the two titles with Patriots in 2015/2016 season. In 2010, I captained the UCU junior team to the title of the Ugandan FUBA League. Any individual awards: I was voted as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Uganda FUBA Division II League in 2011. The previous season, I had won the top-scorer’s award of Division League. Lately you have been working with young people, tell us about that too? Yes, I started an initiative called “Elite Sports Africa Basketball – Rwanda” in November 2014. This initiative offers basketball clinics, and individual sessions on teaching young athletes the basketball skills and techniques in general. The main objective is to use the game of basketball as a positive transformation tool of the young generation in Rwanda. Elite Sports Africa Basketball Rwanda strives to teach young people values in sports and life, for example; how to deal with issues faced by the youth and encouraging them to take their education seriously so as to enable them to be responsible citizens of our nation. How did this come about? Well the thought came into existence because of the love and passion of the game, and the need to share the little knowledge to the younger generation. Secondly, together with my former UCU players, we decided to take this game to our respective communities once we are done with studies since most of us we were from different countries. As per now, there is a similar program being run in Kenya by my friend – Martin Okwako – a former teammate at UCU Canons. Where do you conduct this initiative from? Elite Sports Africa Basketball Rwanda conducts basketball sessions known as “Rising Stars Basketball Clinics” at Kacyiru Village d’Enfants SOS and at Christian Life Assembly court in Nyarutarama over the weekends. What is the age group? The age group of young people at my development program ranges from 10 to 23 years. How many young people do you train? I usually train around 30-50 kids every weekend. Have you landed any sponsorship or partnership deals so far? Unfortunately, no. I don’t have any support as per now, which is the main challenge in this initiative. Have you had notable rise of the kids in your program? Yes, this initiative has contributed towards the rise of some impressive talents. For instance, Enock Kisa and Jean de Dieu Umuhoza are two youngsters, through my initiative, who featured for the national U16 boys team at the 2016 FIBA Africa Zone 5 Championship. Ryan Ntwari, another talent from the initiative, is currently one of the most promising players on the U18 National Team that just won the FIBA Africa Zone 5 U18 Championship in Tanzania. Some of our youngsters have gone on to rapidly grow and get clubs in the topflight basketball league. We now play together, at times against each other, in the same division. For example; Divin Mulisa Ruganzu and Jessy Shyaka just won the Star Times Basketball National League title with Patriots this season. Future plans for the initiative? At Elite Sports Africa Basketball – Rwanda, we never rest. In August, we are holding out annual Elite Invitation Tournament, which will be on its 2nd edition and it’s our hope that it will exponentially keep growing – in numbers and quality. With time and means, we also want to organize a junior league of kids under Elite Sports Africa Basketball – Rwanda and, set up platforms for awareness campaigns on social issues affecting the young people across the country. On the long-term aspect, we are seeking for regional partnerships with relevant basketball foundations so many more kids can have a chance to benefit from the program. editorial@newtimes.co.rw