Easter basketball fiesta set for Florida

FLORIDA Basketball Courts in Mutare will be a hive of activity when the two-day 2024 Basketball Against Drugs Gala rolls into life tomorrow (Saturday).

At least 10 men and six female local teams and one from Harare — Black Rhinos — will cross swords for supremacy when the potentially exciting basketball competition rolls to life.

Manicaland Basketball Association’s public relation officer, Tonderai Matibini confirmed the tournament that will be held in conjunction with Mwenje Chill Spot — a local alcoholic beverages retailer.

“As an association, together with the corporate world, in this case, Mwenje Chill Spot – we want to take up the power of sport and play our part in fighting drug abuse. We have organised a tournament at Florida Basketball Courts to host the Basketball Against Drugs (BAD) Tournament.

“This is part of the many initiatives we have come up in the fight against drugs. We will have anti-drug abuse messages being spread during the tournament, and are also inviting all organisations that have something to do with antidrug abuse drive to chip in and fight this social ill,” he said.

Matibini said apart from fighting drug abuse, the initiative will also provide sporting entertainment for basketball loving masses during the Easter holidays.

“Besides educating our communities on drugs, we are also looking at entertaining people during the Easter holidays. It is a two-day tournament with at least 10 local men and six female local teams. We are also super excited that we have Black Rhinos teams travelling all the way from Harare.

“We were supposed to also have a team from Mozambique, but unfortunately their travelling documents failed to be processed on time. Local referees will handle the matches,” he said.

Matibini said MAB has made efforts to spread the game to all corners of Manicaland.

“Manicaland Basketball Association (MAB) is working tirelessly to grow the game in the province. Basketball is fast becoming the second popular sport after soccer world over.

“We are proud to say we have basketball played in Buhera, Nyanga, Makoni, Chipinge, Mutasa and Chimanimani. We are also excited that former basketball players around the globe are helping out to build courts around the province.

We take pride in that we are one of the sports codes working tirelessly to fight drug abuse,” said Matibini.