The Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) has officially launched the FIBA Afrobasket Zone V U18 qualifiers which shall be hosted by Uganda from 9th to 14th June 2024.
The auspicious event was held at Fairway Hotel and in attendance were FUBA Executive Committee members, Coaches for the U18 boys and girls, other team officials, 10 players, 5 boys and 5 girls, and multiple media personalities.
The tournament which shall be happening at the NCS Lugogo Arena is a qualifier for the FIBA U18 Women’s African Championship 2024 and FIBA U18 Africa Championship that shall be hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa in August this year.
10 countries have already confirmed their attendance and these include Uganda (hosts), Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
The boys and girls shall both be playing but it is not yet confirmed how many countries shall be fielding both genders.
The FUBA General Secretary Hudson Ssegamwenge stressed the objectives and goals of the teams ahead of the tournament. “The goal for both our teams is to qualify for the main event in South Africa with only one ticket available, for the winner of this Zone V preliminaries”
Only the tournament winners shall be qualifying for the U18 Championships and given that Egypt which is one of the powerhouses in Zone V will not be participating this year having won the FIBA U18 African Championship 2022 (boys) and runners up in the women’s category thereby earning a direct ticket to the 2024 edition will not be partaking, there is a huge possibly for Uganda to win it all for both Boys and Girls.
“Our preparation has been immense, we started last year (2023). At the moment, I’d like to say that we are complete; we are only going to add one player” Coach John Omondi, Head Coach U18 girls’ National team.
The team has had several practice games since 2023 and most recently, the boys played ihoops twice and Henrison Basketball Academy (HBA) and they won all three games. They shall be engaging in more practice ahead of the tournament.
“Aside from preparations that have been ongoing already, the teams will start residential camping this week before we tipoff for the tournament” Hudson hinted on what shall be happening in the build up to the games.
The Junior Gazelles (U18 Girls) Captain Husnah Namagembe Abubaker is optimistic about our chances, she said “Our team is privileged because we have been working out, getting to bond, building team chemistry and this puts us in a good position. We are going to bring the cup home, we cannot put ourselves down”
The Junior Silverbacks Captain Mugisha Amos was full of praise for the coaches “The coaches have helped us improve and we expect the best from our team”
Both Mugisha Amos and Husnah Abubaker were the Captains of their teams during the U16 African Champions that were played in Tunisia, 2023 and the Boys finished 10th with 1 win in 5 games and the Girls finished 6th with 2 wins in 6 games.
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