ZIMBABWE’S fledgling basketball stars will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive expert coaching from National Basketball Association (NBA) star when Los Angeles Clippers’ Cameroonian forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute visits the country for a high-profile three-day training camp with young players in June.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 30-year-old starting small forward will host a three-day skills development training camp for the country’s top 50 Under-18 players from June 23 to 26 at a venue yet to be confirmed in the capital.
Mbah a Moute has been in brilliant form for the LA Clippers in the ongoing NBA play-offs and on Friday night scored a play-off career-high 15 points in a three win over Utah Jazz, adding six rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer in 37 minutes.
His visit to Zimbabwe, which is going to be an annual event, is the brainchild of former Zimbabwe international Allen Mavunga, who played college basketball in the US at Salem International University in West Virginia.
Mavunga, who is the founder of I Believe Sports Academy, told Standardsport that the camp by Mbah a Moute would create a pathway for the country’s talented young players to opportunities to play college basketball in the US.
“Born and raised in Cameroon, Luc is well-known for his amazing charitable work in Africa that he does during his off-season and also for his work with the NBA Africa’s Basketball Without Borders Camp, which is held every year to help develop the young basketball talent in Africa,” Mavunga said.
“His passion to help young African basketball athletes get to the next level made it an easy choice for me to approach him about having a camp in Zimbabwe in partnership with I Believe Sports Academy, an academy I founded in June 2011 while I was living and working in the US.
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“This is a skills development training programme that will focus on developing talent at our disposal to reach the next level, which is college basketball in the US.
“Local basketball enthusiasts should expect to see top high school players pitted against each other so as to develop their talent and prepare them to have a chance of playing college basketball in America. Luc will also be looking for an exceptional player that he can recommend to universities for potential scholarships,” he added.
In preparation for the three-day camp, I Believe Sports Academy in partnership with National Association of Secondary Heads will be selecting the top 50 Under-18 boys basketball players in the country at a festival that will be held at Eveline Girls High School in Bulawayo next month.
“We are using that event to select the top 50 players in the country. The top three or four high school teams in each of the 10 provinces will come to Eveline High School for the festival. Selected players will receive invitation letters signed by Luc Mbah Moute himself.
“We will also be hosting a fundraising dinner with Luc as our guest and some high-profile officials will be attending this event so that we can engage the corporate world in Zimbabwe to be actively involved with grassroots level basketball and giving back to the community.
Mavunga also paid tribute to the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe for their assistance in making the training camp possible.
“Basketball Union of Zimbabwe has been great in helping us prepare for this camp by assisting us with application procedures to get these NBA guys cleared by the Sports and Recreation Commission, Ministry of Sports and Recreation so that everything is above board. We hope that our Sports minister can be part of the event and attend one of the camp days.,” Mavunga said.
Mbah a Moute will become the first NBA player to visit Zimbabwe for such a camp, a country where NBA basketball enjoys staunch following.
