Espoir hoops coach defies odds to reach the top

Espoir Basketball Club have dominated the local scene for the past two seasons having lost only one game in that period and remain unbeaten after four games into the 2014 season. Under the guidance of ex-star and former national team player Jean Bahufite, the Nyamirambo-based side has won both back to back league and playoff titles on top of winning the 2012 Fiba Zone V championships. The former ETO Muhima student was inspired to love basketball by his late mother, Barutwanayo. “My mother (RIP) is the one who made me love basketball because she liked it and used to play it for fun but for me it meant a lot. May her soul rest in peace,” Bahufite reminisces in an interview with Saturday Sport. Early days Back in his primary school days, Bahufite had no specific sport of preference. He used to play all kinds of games but mostly football, the most popular sport in Rwanda. “It was only when I joined ETO Muhima that I started to play basketball and since then, I never played any other sport,” says Bahufite. However, despite being one of the star players for his school teams, both ETO Muhima and Saint Joseph Kabgayi, Bahufite says he never won any notable silverware. “As an individual, you can only contribute as much, so you need everyone on the team to perform well but it wasn’t the case for me at both schools,” he explains. He recalls that at Saint Joseph, the school team always used to come so close to winning the national inter-schools’ championships having reached a couple of finals during his time. Playing career Over the last ten years, Bahufite has featured for different clubs in the national basketball championship, among them was BCDI (currently ECOBANK) basketball club, AGF (Association de Generation sans Frontiere), Gitarama and Espoi. He made his league debut for BCDI in 1996 before leaving after two seasons to join AGF for whom he also played for two seasons and from 2000 to 2002, he featured for the then newly formed Gitarama BBC. In 2003, the then 32-year-old Bahufite joined Nyamirambo-based Espoir on a three-year contract and went on to win two league titles and one playoff trophy before he retired in 2006. “The highlight of my playing career came at Espoir where I enjoyed three successful seasons,” the 42-year-old acknowledged, before disclosing that his only regret is not being able to play for the national team in a major competition. He was called up to the national team, first in 1999, then in 2004 and again in 2005 but never made it to the final squad for a single tournament. In 2006, the powerful forward called time on his playing career and went into coaching where he has defied odds to assert his authority as arguably the best basketball coach in Rwanda—something you can’t say about him as a player. Coaching career Bahufite started the coaching career at his former school Saint Joseph and during his first year of coaching in 2006, he led the boys’ team to the national inter-schools junior title. Two years later, he helped the Saint Joseph Kabgayi senior boys’ school team to the national inter-schools title before repeating the same feat with boys’ and girls’ teams in 2011. In 2012, he joined his former club Espoir as head coach replacing Jean Claude Ndayiragije, who was in charge for just a few months during the transition period following the departure of coach Prosper Mihigo, who had left the country for USA. After joining Espoir, he led the club to their first league title in seven years, first play-offs title in six years and their first ever Fiba Africa Zone five club championship title. In his first season, Espoir finished the season unbeaten. “2012 is my most memorable year to date with Espoir because I achieved a lot including winning the league and play-offs titles plus the zone V title, thanks to players and management, who gave me a warm welcome back at the club and support,” he explained. In 2013, he helped the club to retain the league title and play-offs glory as well and reached the final of the Fiba Africa zone V championship held in Bujumbura in August but lost to 2012 finalists Urunani of Burundi. On top being in charge of Espoir, Bahufite also doubles as the national team assistant coach and was part of the team that finished behind champions Egypt in Dares-Salaam, Tanzania last year at the Fiba Africa Zone V championships. The team qualified for 2013 African basketball championships held in Ivory Coast. Rwanda finished in the tenth position out of 16 countries in a tournament which was won by Angola. Future goals Bahufite is a Level II coach but plans to advance to Level 1, which would allow him to coach even at a professional level outside Rwanda. “I want to excel in my career and reach the international stage. I am so grateful to basketball because it has enabled me to travel to different countries including the United States of America, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Guinea Equatorial, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi among others,” he told Saturday Sport . What others say about him “Bahufite is not only my coach but also my close friend; he is a good coach and always wants the best for his players. He is humble, social and friendly and personally I like the way he handles the players,” says Espoir captain and 2012 MVP Aristide Mugabe. The senior national team head coach Moise Mutokambali says Bahufite is an amazing colleague who loves the game and does his best to see that basketball develops in the country. “He lives in harmony with friends and never collides with anyone at work. He is very good at teamwork,” Mutokambali says. Having lost just one game the whole of last season against KBC in game three of the playoff finals, Bahufite and his team started the 2014 season in similar fashion by running way with the pre-season tournament after beating archrivals APR 79-46 in the final. Espoir remains the only unbeaten team in the league, four games into the new season and Bahufite is determined not only to win a record-equaling third successive league title but to make his team a major force in the region and beyond. Bahufite was born to Jean Rwagatare and Clotilde Barutwanayo on September 30, 1971 in Nyamirambo sector, Nyarugenge district in the City of Kigali. He is the first born from a family of two children. His father passed way in 1986 and the mother in 2003. The 42-year-old Bahufite attended Kabusunzu primary school before heading to ETO Muhima for his O level studies He completed his A-level at Saint Joseph Kagbayi in 2003. Unfortunately, he was not able to enroll for university studies. Bahufite is not married but has a girl friend, and still stays at his parent’s home in Rwezamenyo sector in Nyarugenge district