By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Western Area Basket Ball Association (WABA) has started a regional basketball championship at the National Stadium Basketball court. The competition features nine teams from across Freetown.
Alex Sahr Kangasu, the Public Relations Officer for WABA, said the competition is important for the players and their growth. “The players are excited because they have put a lot of work into training,” Kangasu said.
Mohamed Sheriff, a player for Dukuray Warriors, one of the team that lost their opening match, said despite the loss he was excited to get back on the court to play.
“The return of the league means a great deal to me as a player. I have seen a lot of things that I need to improve on my game,” Sheriff said.
The tournament has been organized under extreme financial difficulty for the association. Organizers say the running cost of the tournament for this year will run up to Le 15 million. “As we are speaking now we don’t have a sponsor, we are trying to get commercial houses to support, but it’s difficult,” Kangasu said.
Last year the national executive gave Le 1 million and two balls as part of their support. The only source of income for the tournament at the moment is gate takings.
The competition which started on April 13 is supposed to run till mid-June. The competition has been arranged in various stages. All nine teams will face each other in a one leg game and then the best six will qualify to the next stage. Four out of the six will then move to the semis and then two will make it to the finals.
Hot favourites Archibald Red Flames edged out Cannon Royals 50-46 in their first match. But Dock Cannol Exclavates proved more convincing than Flames in their opening match by wining against Dukuray Warriors by 44-33.
The competition has generated huge support among the basketball community; one fan said the competition is a way of bringing the players and fans together every evening.
Basketball is one of the least developed sports in Sierra Leone. But despite growing talents within the game, it has been frustrated by lack of enough support from the Ministry of Sports and its parent body – National Basket Ball Association.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
