As the curtain rises on the Basketball Africa League’s (BAL), Rwanda’s representatives Patriots will be among the 12 teams with a rare privilege of taking part in the competition’s inaugural season. Set to run from May 16-30 at Kigali Arena, this marks the first NBA-backed professional league outside North America. For Patriots, it will be no small feat for a club that was put together less than 10 years ago as an amateur team for veteran players who were playing just to keep fit. In a recent interview with this publication, Brian Kirungi, the club’s president, talked to us about the ‘informal’ beginning of what later became the biggest basketball franchise in the country. “We started as an informal team for veteran players who only played to stay fit,” he recalled. “Then with time, we thought we could do more and everyone had the passion for basketball, and wanted to contribute to the development of the game in Rwanda.” The founding members approached Rwanda Basketball Federation (Ferwaba) about a possibility of founding a new club and fielding it into the topflight league and, surprisingly, the officials at the federation bought into the idea. Just like other clubs starting out on local scene, Patriots were no stranger to challenges related to resources. The means to run the team came from the members. Not long after, Kirungi said, a few sponsors started coming on board and the club’s financial standing improved. But, still, the members remained the primary source of the team’s budget. Seven years since joining the BK Basketball National League, Patriots are four-time champions and have won the league titles of the last three seasons. “No particular secret” Despite dominating the domestic domain for the last six years, and ultimately growing into one of the strong basketball clubs in the region, Kirungi insists that there is no particular secret behind their success. “Often all things are due to passion and hard work. What drives the people of Patriots; be it fans, members or players, is the love and passion for basketball.” “Against what we had set out to achieve when we entered the league, I think we have achieved more than we expected. First we wanted to make basketball more popular and I believe everyone agrees that Patriots have contributed a lot towards that. Basketball is now probably among the top two or three most popular sports in the country.” However, he emphasised that the team is not resting on its laurels. “We will continue to work hard in making our league one of the best in Africa and making Patriots one of the best clubs on the continent,” he said. The Rwandan champions face Nigerian giants Rivers Hoopers in their first BAL game on Sunday, starting 4pm CAT. The organisers have announced that Canal+ and ESPN will air all the games across the continent. For many teams, and certainly for Patriots, BAL 2021 is their biggest competition to date.
