Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana Basketball League reigning champions, Dolphins, are gearing up to host the Road to Bal 2024 qualifiers to be played at the University of Botswana (UB) Campus Indoor Sports Centre this weekend.
The Road to Bal 2024 qualifiers is guaranteed to bring the crème de la crème of hoops that Southern Africa can offer under one roof, with the best-placed team at the end of the Group play qualifying automatically to the Elite 16.
Dolphins are seeded in Group D of the qualifiers and they are in the framework of competition expected to host other regional champions in Uman Wolves from Namibia, Munali Suns from Zambia as well as Zimbabwean champions, JBC Basketball club.
The four-time local league champions are set to hit the courts on Saturday with some blockbuster fixtures on the cards against JBC and face Munali Suns on Sunday and finish off their campaign on Monday against Uman Wolves.
Dolphins will be pinning their hopes on national team players, Kesaobaka Ndawanyana and Bushe Ramabu who played in the team’s inaugural regional qualifiers held in South Africa in 2019.
They have nonetheless boosted the squad depth with more quality in the recent acquisition of Tanzanian centre, Fortius Ngaiza and two American guards, Paris Collins and Ezeka Omeke. “We are raring to go and are fully aware of what is at stake for the local club.
Hosting the Southern Africa qualifiers is an achievement and a strong signal to the African basketball community that Botswana is finding a new impulse,” said Dolphins coach Trynos Moyo in an interview.
Moyo said competing in the tournament was a motivating factor on its own since it was a perfect platform for local players to showcase their skills to the world with the hope to catch the eyes of scouts in search for talents.
“Obviously a lot of international scouts have so much interest in such tournaments to identify raw talent that could be exported to major leagues around the world, hence I am expecting my players to go all out showcasing their skills to the international arena,” Moyo said.
He nonetheless said the odds were slightly against his side since the qualifying games are right in the middle of the off season. “I must admit that the team is a little bit rusty in terms of fitness.
We last played a competitive league game around April during the final play off games so we needed to work a lot on our fitness and new combinations,” he said. He added that the basketball league in Botswana was only in its first season post the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to their competitors, something, which he said could become a fitness challenge on his side.
Additionally, the Botswana Basketball Association technical director, Shalosh Matsetse, indicated that hosting the games in Botswana would present a wide scope of benefits for all the stakeholders involved or related to the game of basketball.
He said despite showcasing the skills and talents that the locals have to offer, the spotlight would also be on the world class arena that has long been underutilized.
“This is a perfect time for the state-of-the-art arena at UB to be in the limelight with the intent of transforming the country into a basketball destination of choice,” Matsetse said.
He said Botswana was expected to benefit immensely in hosting the tournament since it was both FIBA and NBA accredited.
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