Kenya plots to edge out Rwanda

By Erick Ochieng’

Women’s national basketball team head coach Ronny Owino says only Rwanda stands between Kenya and the Africa Cup of Nations championship to be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in September, next year.

Kenya will be hoping to eliminate Rwanda from the Africa Zone Five championship next month in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, an event which will act as a qualifier for the continental event.

Owino said Kenya hopes to beef its squad to beat Rwanda who denied them a chance to lift the regional title last year.

Owino was speaking at the third edition of the national Junior Basketball Skills Development Programme at the Railway Club, Nairobi, on Sunday.

Develop talent

The ten-day junior basketball coaching and training clinic, which has been  organised and funded by Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, seeks to identify and develop talent among  children in the under 17, 15, 12 age categories.

Among the national basketball talent centers taking part in the event are Eastleigh, Shauri Moyo, Kayole and Lang’ata.

“We have 80 players attending the training, each centre has produced 20 children. They are inspired and are eager to learn,” said Owino who said the national team will begin training on January 3, 2013 before leaving for Tanzania on January 19 for the regional championships to be held between January 20 and 29.

Owino, who recently returned from Abuja, Nigeria,  where he attended a similar coaching clinic for children,  said two girls will be invited from the clinic to train with the national team at Nyayo National Stadium.

At Railway Club, the children are taken through basketball fundamentals which revolve around ball control, formation, passes, runs, three pointers, dribbling and shooting among others.

Carolyn Kariuki of Sports Department said the aim of the clinic, which is   in its third edition, is to nurture the children’s talent and prepare them to join Kenya Basketball Federations clubs in  future.

“The children stand great chance of earning basketball scholarships once they have attended this seminar,” said Kariuki who explained the Government has funded the clinic to a tune of Sh500,000.

Owino said the centers involved will play competitive tournament two days to the end of the clinic so that the 13 coaches currently assigned with the trainings can gauge what the children learnt during the ten days they have been in camp.