Sports Minister Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju has tasked the players and staff of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) to fight for the Basketball Africa league (BAL) trophy, knowing that multitudes of Rwandans will be cheering for them. REG are representing Rwanda at the BAL for the second time in a row, having featured at the continental showpiece last year as well. The team will be leaving for Dakar on Monday, and will camp in the Senegalese Capital until the tournament begins on Saturday, March 11. “Rwandans will be watching the games, and when you are on the court, just feel that every Rwandan will support you,” Munyangaju told players and staff, during an event held in Kigali during which she flagged the team off to the tournament. “Let’s show that winning the trophy is possible. I hope you will achieve it,” she added. On behalf of his teammates, club captain Olivier Shyaka said the team is in good shape and ready to make better fortunes than last season. “We are going there (to Senegal) to win. We were not happy with last season’s performance. We feel we owe a huge debt to Rwandans,” Shyaka noted. Point guard Adonis Filer echoed his skipper’s comments, emphasizing that the team is going to the tournament with a different mindset...and “this will help us to come out on top.” Club coach Dean Murray admits that the team feels pressure to perform better this season if they are to make Rwandans forget about club’s BAL disappointing campaign last season. REG was placed in the Sahara Conference along with US-Monastir, Kwara Falcons (Nigeria), Abidjan Basket Club (Côte d'Ivoire) AS Douanes (Senegal) and Stade Malien (Mali). The other six teams were pooled in the Nile Conference group phase that will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 26 to May 6. The Nile Conference features debutants Al Ahly of host nation Egypt, Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), BAL 2022 runners-up Petro de Luanda (Angola), City Oilers (Uganda), Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (Guinea). The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs and Finals which will feature a single-elimination tournament at BK Arena in Kigali from May 21-27.
