Youth hoops teams set to tour Bujumbura

The national U-18 men and women national basketball teams are scheduled to tour Bujumbura next week as they continue preparations for the forthcoming Zone Five U-18 qualifiers due July 17-22 in Kigali.The teams will play in the Great Lakes regional basketball tournament that is expected to feature teams from Burundi and DRC.According to Rwanda basketball federation president Desire Mugwiza, Rwanda will be using the tournament to gauge coach Nenad Amanovic’s players before the Zone V qualifiers.“Initially APR was the invited team for the tournament but since they were not prepared, we requested the organisers to allow us send our junior teams which was given the green light.“We want the players, who have been training for the last few weeks to test themselves against better and experienced opposition,” Mugwiza told this paper yesterday.Meanwhile, the national basketball federation has received a timely boost from the Ministry of Sports and Culture that will provide Rwf120m for the organization of the competitionThe week-long competition will attract six teams which include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Ethiopia.The men’s team will be bolstered by foreign based players who jet in next month and they include: Adronis Rwabigwi, Ngenzi Eric, Manzi Danny, Karenzi Ronald, Twagirayezu Patrice, Ishimwe Norbert, Rutare Jonathan, and Shyaka Scifon.