Lobatse gets nod for regional basketball tourney
Dumisani Ncube | Thursday October 12, 2017 09:41
The regional tournament has attracted top sides from Botswana, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe as they eye a place at the Africa championships. The competition starts on October 20-26.
“It has been a norm to host tournaments of a high magnitude in Gaborone, but we have decided to take this tournament to Lobatse to spread awareness of basketball. This is a big and positive step to take such a competition outside Gaborone,” Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) president, Boineelo Hardy said. She noted that since Lobatse is a historical town, and is celebrating 120 years of existence, hosting the tournament in the town will be fitting. Hardy said they had weighed a number of venues in Gaborone, with the University of Botswana being the first option. However, it was deemed too expensive for the organisers’ budget.
Hardy said more tournaments will be held outside Gaborone in a bid to promote basketball.
Match officials for the tournament will be drawn from the DRC, France and Tanzania.
The hosts, Botswana will be represented by four teams; Troopers and Dolphins (men as well as Police V and BDF V (women).
The winners in the men’s section will represent the region at the continental championships to be held in Tunisia in December. Teams that progress from the women’s section, will proceed to the Africa competition in Angola next month. Fixtures will be released days before the kick-off of the qualifiers.
The participating teams:
Men: Dolphins, Troopers (Botswana), Libolo, Interclub (Angola), Ferraviaro, Maputo (Mozambique), Cavs, Hornets (Zimbabwe), Cavaliers (Zambia)
Women: BDF V, Police V (Botswana), Primerio de Agosto, Interclub (Angola), Ferraviaro Debera, Costa de Sol (Mozambique), Mavericks, Lakers (Zimbabwe)