Basketball season pushed to August

Dumisani Ncube | Friday July 22, 2016 12:36

The season normally starts in March and most of the matches were played at the University of Botswana basketball courts and Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) courts.

“We are exploring a new structure whereby we start in August and end the following year in March. We want to align with our foreign counterparts,” Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) public relations officer, Tumelo Boima explained.

Boima said their intention is to maintain international standards in the way the fixtures are structured. The BBA and the league committee agreed on the new schedule.

Boima said the other reason for the delay is the unavailability of basketball venues. “The BNYC courts are not in use at the moment. We have been using the UB courts for free, but we have since decided to construct our own courts. At the moment, we are facing financial challenges which has stopped us from building our courts,” said Boima who said they are in need of funders.

Lack of funds has always been a challenge for basketball with some players digging into their pockets to ensure their teams survive and pay venue fees.

“With the league starting late, we have opted to focus on participating in invitational regional tournaments so that players stay fit,” Police V women’s coach, James Kalebwe said.

Kalabwe said as a coach he is trying to keep his players motivated and to eliminate the fact that the league is starting late so they stay active. Police V has been taking part in a number of tournaments in countries such as Namibia and Swaziland. “My team is in good shape. It’s a pity the league will start late,” Kalebwe said.

Troopers coach, William Nyangu said his team is practicing despite not having any league action until August.

“Upon receiving the news we felt it was something very strange but the restructuring is good because it means there won’t be basketball action during winter which is a difficult time to play the game,” Nyangu said.