THE BULAWAYO Basketball Association (BBA) League will start off in two weeks’ time with a pre-season tournament from September 12 and spilling over to the following weekend at the Bulawayo Club for the Disabled.
Report by Fortune Mbele
Newly-elected secretary-general of the BBA, Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu, on Thursday confirmed to Southern Eye Sport that the tournament to mark the beginning of the 2013-2014 league will be played over two weeks before the season programme begins.
“The games will be played over two weekends owing to the very large new league that will see 17 men and eight women’s teams.
“The winners will get a trophy and medals for the top three teams. We are looking for a potential sponsor to bankroll the event looking at the fact that we are having 56 games.
“We need to pay referees and feed them.
“We also want to give the players and teams their time’s worth.
“The fixtures for the season will be out next week when registration formalities are completed,” Ndlovu said.
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The men’s teams have been pooled into four groups for the competition, with Pool A comprising Highlanders, ZB Titans, ALCC Lions and Crossover.
In Pool B, there will be Southern Mavericks, Stars, Lords and Kaos while Kings, Oilers, Midlands State University (MSU) and Sparks will make up Pool C. Pool D will take up Giants, Unicorns, Milton and Polytech.
The women’s tournament will have two groups and Pool A will have Giants, Stars, Polytech and Oilers while Pool B will comprises of Lakers, Highlanders, Hawks and MSU.
Quarter-finals will be played on September 20 with winner of Pool A taking on the runner-up in Pool B in the first match while the winner of Pool B will clash with runner-up of Pool A in the second match in the men’s competition.
In the third quarter-final winner, Pool C dates runner-up Pool D, while the last quarter-final match will be played the following day pitting winner Pool D against runner-up Pool C.
The women go straight into the semis with winner Pool A taking on runner-up Pool B while the second will feature winner Pool B against runner-up Pool A.
The men’s semi-finals and the finals of both categories will also be played on the same day with presentation of awards following there after.
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