Patriots basketball club have said that they are working on making their team more competitive ahead of the inaugural African Basketball League (BAL) regular season. However, club president Brian Kirungi says, they are counting on the resumption of the domestic league so the players can gain match fitness before engaging in the continental tournament. Patriots, three-time Rwanda champions, have not held any group training since March after all sports activities in the country were suspended to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to Times Sport on Sunday, Kirungi said: The league makes us better in terms of team cohesion and match fitness at individual level. We hope the championship will resume before the BAL 2020. Concerning the fitness status of the players, the club’s president noted that “none can replace the team training, league competitiveness and sense of ownership that it brings.” He further added: We have two new players in the team; Gilbert (Nijyimbere) and Bush (Wamukota) who never got a chance to play any competitive game with us this season. So the league would help them learn (our system) and know how our team plays.” The BAL 2020 was due to get underway in March but, like most tournaments in Africa and on global scale, it was suspended indefinitely because of the novel coronavirus pandemic that hugely affected sports and international travel. American Dean Murray will be in charge of Patriots through the BAL 2020 finals tournament, assisted by Kenya-born tactician guide Bernard ‘Ben’ Oluoch and Burundian Olivier Ndayiragije. The club unveiled their new technical bench in February. It is reported that the BAL 2020 tournament will be held in Rwanda, at Kigali Arena, from December 5 to 20 this year. Patriots secured its ticket after going nine games unbeaten in the two-round qualifiers last year.
