Sunday, 16 February 2014 00:00 View Comments Deputy Sports EditorOrganisers of the Bob @ 90 Basketball Tournament are looking beyond our borders in their attempts to make this year’s edition bigger and better, with at least four Zambian teams earmarked to grace the occasion.




The tournament, slated for February 28-March 2, will be used to celebrate the 90th birthday of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the ruling Zanu-PF’s landslide victory over the MDC factions during last year’s harmonised elections.


 


“We had a very good outing last year when we held the inaugural tournament and so we sought to find new ways to make this year’s edition an even bigger event,” said event co-ordinator Tendai “T-Buns” Zhakata.


 


“Our main aim is to celebrate His Excellency’s birthday, but this year we have the additional motivation of holding our own belated celebrations of last year’s successfully conducted and won elections.


 


“We have several new aspects to our tournament that promise to make this year’s edition the best. The weekend promises to be a free and friendly environment with top security and a host of some of music’s biggest names and newcomers.


 


“Among those are the likes of BaShupi, dancehall sensations Killer T and Dhadza D as well as the returning Roki and Jah Prayzah,” he said.Of the four targeted teams, three Zambian teams have confirmed their participation in this year’s tournament.


 


The three are University of Zambia, and Magic and Pacers basketball clubs and the trio is expected to troop into the country on the eve of the games.


 


“We are still engaged in negotiating with a fourth and final Zambian team which we expect to add a little foreign flavour to the extravaganza,” said Zhakata.


 


The organisers have managed to retain the bulk of last year’s participants on top of the new additions, which means this year’s edition will be bigger.


 


On the local front, those who have confirmed their participation are last year’s semi-finalists across all the categories and sections.This means in the senior men’s divisions, Cameo will be out to retain their title against the likes of JBC, Raiderz and Pistons, while Cameo’s women will battle it out against Varsity, Drifters and Cheetahs.


 


In the schools division, Roosevelt and Churchill will defend their titles against the likes of Mukaro, Girls’ High, Goromonzi, Prince Edward and Kwekwe High.


 


Among the newcomers are Real Returners, South Central, Hellaz, Arcadia and Mablazo and the five will act as curtain raisers for the senior men and women’s games.


 


The games will be held at various venues across the capital, namely Queen Elizabeth, Prince Edward and Girls’ High schools, University of Zimbabwe courts and the City Sports Centre.


 


An array of fund-raising activities is lined up during the run-up to the games during the next two weeks.“We are still finalising our programme, but I can confirm that we have lined up a list of activities in the next couple of weeks to raise funds for the games.


 


“I expect the modalities to be completed in the next few days and should be able to make them public by Monday (tomorrow). This is not to say that we don’t have sponsorship as companies and individuals from last year like Reverend Chitsinde, NetOne, EcoBank and Seed co have expressed their willingness to partner with us yet again and in the future,” said Zhakata.

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