Basketball teams ready

Sport
AFRICAN Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games Zimbabwe men and women’s basketball teams say they will give it their best shot when they play their first matches of the tournament at ZITF tomorrow.

AFRICAN Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games Zimbabwe men and women’s basketball teams say they will give it their best shot when they play their first matches of the tournament at ZITF tomorrow.

THANDIWE MOYO / SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER

Regional organising committee secretary-general Mvuzo Mbebe yesterday said they were hoping that basketball would start tomorrow as they were waiting for equipment from Botswana which was expected in last night.

Women’s team coach and Southern Eye sub-editor Sam Mutsvanga said they were geared up for the games.

“The training has been going on well. The examinations affected our programme, but we have been preparing for the games. We still have one player who we expect tomorrow, (today) she has been writing examinations.

“Apart from that preparations are going on well. We had a few knocks here and there, but the players have fully recovered.

“We are ready for the games. We want to get a medal, the colour we don’t know but we want a medal,” he said.

The team will bank on the experience of Sithabile Ngadini, Melissa Majonga and Francisca Sekete from the Zone VI Games team in Zambia in 2012 (now Region 5 Games) who have played together at national level before while counting on Itai Kawodza and Mutsa Chiromo who played together in the national Under-16 team.

“Their experience should come in handy and help the team. The team played against a Bulawayo Select recently and they won their two games against senior players.

“The girls will give it their all that is one thing I can promise. They have the passion and they want to make the nation proud,” he said.

Christelle Nyauchi and Mary Chawaipira were part of the National Association of Secondary School Heads squad that represented the country in the U-17 Confederation of School Heads of Secondary Schools Athletics Association (Cossasa) games in Zambia this year.

The Zimbabwe women’s team includes forwards Chiromo, Nyauchi and Chawaipira, the guards are Brandina Muleya and Cynthia Mambo while Majonga is a point-guard together with Nyasha Katsatse and Kawodza.

Men’s team coach Tawanda Chitsinde said they were ready for their first assignment against Malawi at the ZITF tomorrow.

“We have been preparing well and at least now we have our full squad save for one player who is joining us today (yesterday).

“He was writing examinations. We have been training with a few players because most of them were writing exams,” he said.

Chitsinde said their aim is to pass the group stages and at least get a medal.

“In the past we have struggled to get past the group stages.

“This time the players are as ready as ever and we want to get a medal.

We want to end our struggle in the group stages,” he said.

Chitsinde said the will play to their strength.

“Angola and Mozambique are the powerhouses in African basketball and they will probably be our biggest opponents.

“We will play on our strengths. Most of the players were in the Under-17 Cosassa team while some of the players turn out for clubs like Varsity Leopards in Harare,” he said.

Victor Bingura, Hilton Kurangwa, Tinotenda Chirara, Watida Mukukula and Larry King are some of the players in Chitsinde’s camp.