During his teenage years, Ruzigande was passionate about football and dreamed of being a professional footballer at some point in his life. Many other young players like him never manage to reach their full potential until an opportunity presents itself for them to showcase their exceptional skills.
In this edition, our sports reporter Damas Sikubwabo gives us a peek into the life of Ally Ruzigande, a rising star, with Rwanda’s reigning champions Patriots.
At 26 years, Ruzigande already seems quite a complete player having cemented his position both at club and national level.
Most recently, he was part of Patriots contingent that participated in the BAL qualifiers that took place in Tanzania’a capital Dar-es-salaam. Ruzigande made his mark during an encounter in which his Patriots side outscored Hawassa of Ethiopia by 125-50.
Ruzigande led the scoring charts in this game with 23 points to his name.
Who is Ally Ruzigande?
Born on July 26, 1993 to Ally Gabriel Ruzigande and Furaha Nzikobavuga in Nyarugenge District, Ruzigande is the fifth born in a family of seven four boys and three girls.
Ruzigande attained his primary education at Ecole Primaire Kivugiza. He later joined Ecole secondary Hamdan Bun Rashid and CIESK Secondary school for his O’level and A’level studies respectively.
He joined APE Rugunga for senior five and six where he majored in History Economics and Geography.
After his secondary school, Ruzigande joined UTB where he undertook a short course in Airport ground operations. He’s currently undertaking undergraduate studies in Finance at Independent University of Kigali.
Ruzigande stands at 1.99m, made his international debut in 2013.
Early days
Just like most other ambitions children, Ruzigande’s dream was to become a professional footballer. He played for both his primary and secondary School football teams. He also played for Vision Football Club in the second division of Rwanda national football league.
While at Hamdan Bun Rashid, Ruzigande started to develop his passion for Basketball.
"Although I fully engaged myself in football games, friends and other professionals saw a basketball talent in me and advised to pursue it but I didn’t take their advice seriously because I wanted to fully utilize my football potential. I used to admire former APR forward Kabange Twite, I wanted to be like him. I only played basketball for fun.
What’s meant to happen will happen anyway.
"While at high school I had a classmate called Elia Kaje who played a goal keeping role in our school team. Kaje had a brother called Bunene Kajeguhakwa who at the time played for APR basketball club. Although I played basketball for fun, Bunene saw potential in me and advised me to start training at Maison de Jeunes de Kimisagara, I paid a deaf ear as usual.”
"I remember one day I was training with friends at Club Rafiki in Nyamirambo when former head coach of Kigali Basketball Club (KBC), Yves Nkurunziza approached me and asked if I could train with him regularly. This time I accepted and started training with KBC on full time basis. Nkurunziza helped me a lot, especially on basic skills. That year I dropped out of school for one year because I wanted to fully realise my basketball potential.
Joining APR
After a full season with KBC, Ruzigande was able to demonstrate his skills at a higher level since he was playing for a national league club. In 2013, APR Basketball through their head coach Cliff Owuor came knocking on his door, an opportunity a few people if any would turn down.
He signed a two-year professional contract with the army side.
In his maiden season with the army side, Ruzigande and APR BBC finished in third place in the national basketball league. For the next two seasons (2016-2017), APR always finished among the top four teams in the league.
"Although my team performed relatively well, I always wanted to realize my dream of winning the national basketball league”. Ruzigande says.
2018-2019 season was a turning point
In 2018, Ruzigande joined giants Patriots on a two-year deal. Having demonstrated his exceptional dribbling and shooting skills for all the time he played for APR, Patriots thought he was the player they needed to add steel to their formidable team.
"I have always dreamed to play for a big club like Patriots and on that day, my dream was realized. I couldn’t wait to get started. I knew joining Patriots was a big challenge because a teammate who played in the same my position was in good form but because of my past experience, my coach Henry Mwinuka preferred me over my colleague”. Ruzigande narrates.
Achievements at Patriots
Ruzigande narrates how Patriots is more of a family than just a club "It is a great club where members try to support each other both on and off the field. Because of this kind of spirit, we were able to win the national league title in my maiden season and represented our country in the BAL qualifiers”.
"I remember my first international engagement is when we went to Tanzania last year to play in BAL qualifiers. This is my best competition so far because of how I performed. I grabbed many points in the first round on BAL qualifiers and it was the greatest moment of my career because I helped Patriots to qualify for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2020 inaugural season”.
Ruzigande made his full international debut in 2017 at the 29th African Basketball Championships (Afrobasket) in Tunisia.
He was part of the team that played at FIBA Africa Zone V Nations Championships that was staged in Kampala, Uganda, as well as two rounds of the 2019 Basketball World Cup qualifiers in Mali and Nigeria.
Role model
Ruzigande speaks highly of former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant.
The Patriots forward is still grieving about the passing on of Kobe Bryant who died in a helicopter crash with his daughter this year.
"We lost a very important person in the world of Basketball because Kobe was more than just a player. He indirectly improved my career by just watching his videos.”