Moorosi Tsiane
Four teams are set to lock horns in this year’s edition of the Memorial Independence Basketball Tournament, which begins tomorrow and ends on Sunday at Lehakoe Recreational Club.
The teams are Diamond from Botswana, Bashana BA Heso, Sigla Philippines and defending champions KTA All-Stars.
According to the Lesotho Basketball Association (LBA) spokesperson, Molupe Ratšolo, the winners are set to take home M1000, while the runners-up pocket M500.
“All is in place for the championship; we have one team coming from Botswana called Diamond, which will battle for honours with defending champions KTA All-Stars, Bashana Ba Heso and Philippines,” Ratšolo said.
“We were also supposed to have teams from South Africa, but they pulled out at the last minute due to other commitments.”
Ratšolo further said the tournament seeks to celebrate Lesotho’s independence it gained from Britain on 4 October 1966 and also honor local basketball players who have passed away.
“This is one of our biggest events where we celebrate the country’s independence and also hold it in memory of our legends, who have passed on.
“Among others, we celebrate the lives of Mohale Molapo and Refiloe Motšoane, who both played for the national team. We will also have special guests from the families of those legends at the tournament.”
Ratšolo, meanwhile, lamented lack of sponsorship, which he said was hampering the development of the sport.
“Finding sponsorship for our tournaments still remains the biggest challenge we face; we are using teams’ registration fees for the prizes we give out at our tournaments, which should not be the case if we had corporate sponsorship.
“We have engaged several companies regarding this predicament and although the progress has been slow, we are hoping some will come on board and partner us and help in the development of the game, which has such potential to become a major sport in our country.”
