MBA season kicks off

MERCENARIES got their Mutare Basket-ball Association Men’s A league title defence off the block with a stroll in the park stinging Dangamvura Knights 64-33 on the season opener tourney. The 31-points win for the Mercenaries is a signal to the MBA giants that the 2018-2019 season might as well be a tight contest throughout the season. Innocent Sithole, the Mercenaries coach, admitted that Knights were a good challenge especially for his side that is still in the gelling phase.

“As we are preparing to host the national league we are highly aimed to get the best franchise and also Mercenaries are a tricky team. It has a lot of high school kids but still managed to become the second here in Manicaland,” he said. Vice president and head of referees for Manicaland Basketball Association, Wemba said in preparation to host the National League competition sometime next year in April they are aiming at raising more funds from the club affiliation fees.

“We did our opening tournament at Mutare Boys High over the weekend and it was a success. We have high hopes that more teams like Mutare State University will join us this year. This season is full of changes.

“Our main goal this time is to reclaim Mutare Raylton Sports Club back and return it to the recreation facility it used to be as we are preparing to host the Nation League contest in April next year. The programme is already on course and we expect matches to be played the second weekend of October,” he said.

Wemba also added: “We have also come up with a strategy to raise funds internally though player registration fund which will give ever player an ID card for his team. This is also meant to avoid players to shift from teams but we are still excited that our province is still growing ranked second best in the country after Harare”.