Zim U-18s ready for Afro-Basket qualifiers

BASKETBALL Union of Zimbabwe (Buz) president Joe Mujuru is optimistic that the national Under-18 boys’ and girls’ teams will excel at the 2018 AfroBasket qualifiers in Mozambique later this month.

The competition will see Southern African countries battling it out for the two qualifying slots in both the boys’ and girls’ categories.

“Our goal is simply; we want to win the qualifiers and qualify for the Afro-Basket Championships. The teams have been in camp for two months now and we expect that to work in our favour as they have had enough time to prepare,” said Mujuru.

“Countries like Mozambique will be a difficult to beat but I think our teams are now well geared to compete. We have equally well-built players that can match their big frames.”

Mujuru appealed to the corporate world to sponsor and rally behind the team.

“I think we have a good chance of qualifying, so we need support from the corporate world. We really need financial assistance if we are to reach our full potential. The teams will feature some talented players that were picked from provinces.”

Meanwhile, Buz has started initiatives to revive the game in all provinces by establishing functional leagues.

Harare and Bulawayo at the moment have the bulk of the players in the national team.

“Basketball is growing in Zimbabwe and we are seeing more schools taking up the game from primary and this shows that we are likely to have more juniors being groomed. We are targeting to have more schools taking up basketball seriously.”