10 February 2015
RWANDA : Meet Mutokambali, the National Hoops Team Coach
By Richard Bishumba
Basketball is not a new sport in Rwanda. The local basketball federation (Ferwaba) has been a member of the International Basketball Federation since 1977, so it's understandable why the sport is one of the most popular in the country.
However, before 2000, Team Rwanda was virtually unknown to most basketball followers beyond Rwanda's boarders. Since the mid-2000s however, the team has made a name as a formidable side in the region and the on the continent.
Over the last ten years or so, Rwanda has emerged as a major force in Zone V and has qualified for the Fiba Africa basketball championships finals four times in a row from 2007 to 2013.
In this issue, Saturday Sport profiles the man who has been in charge of the senior national men's team for the past two years-Moise Mutokambali.
Playing and coaching career
Mutokambali is a great coach but he never was a great player during his brief playing career and says back in the days, there was no qualified coaches to detect and develop talent.
"During my playing days, there were no coaches to detect, integrate and develop talent like it is today, the few that were there, used not to care about young talents but only dealt with senior players that served the purpose at that moment," he says.
He featured for Lycee de Kigali basketball team in several national inter-schools championships but never won any notable silverware with the secondary school.
Mutokambali never featured prominently for any side in the national basketball league save for brief training stints with Espoir and Kigali Institute of Education basketball teams before venturing into coaching in 2005.
"Thanks to former national team coach and my former lecturer, the late Jean de Dieu Nizeyimana, who saw the potential in me and guided me into coaching. Never in my life had I dreamt of coaching as my profession," Mutokambali explains.
From 2005 to 2012, Mutokambali was a coach for his former secondary school team, Lycee de Kigali on a part-time basis on top of carrying out other basketball development roles at different levels.
At Lycee de Kigali, he won one inter-schools championship title in 2013, and reached the final in 2011 and also helped APE Rugunga win the trophy in 2010, EMEN Nyamirambo in 2009 and Lycee Notre Damme de Citeaux in girls' category in 2009.
National team duties
From 2009, Mutokambali has been serving in national teams at different levels and since January 2013, he has been the head coach of the men's senior team.
In 2009, he was assistant coach to Croatian tactician Veceslav Kavedzja who was head coach of women's national senior team that finished 10th out of 12 teams at the Fiba Afro-basket Championships in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
In 2010, he worked as assistant coach of the U-18 national men's team that finished sixth out of ten teams at the African junior basketball championships staged in Kigali.
Two years later, he was the team manager of the U-18 men's team that won Zone five title in Kigali to qualify for junior Afro-basket and went on to finish bottom of the 11-team at the continental meet in Maputo, Mozambique.
In January 2003, Mutokambali was appointed national senior men's team head coach and led the team to second place in Fiba Africa Zone Five tournament held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and 10th place (out of 16 teams) at the Afro-basket Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in his first year in charge.
2014, a nightmare year
Basketball is not a new sport in Rwanda. The local basketball federation (Ferwaba) has been a member of the International Basketball Federation since 1977, so it's understandable why the sport is one of the most popular in the country.
However, before 2000, Team Rwanda was virtually unknown to most basketball followers beyond Rwanda's boarders. Since the mid-2000s however, the team has made a name as a formidable side in the region and the on the continent.
Over the last ten years or so, Rwanda has emerged as a major force in Zone V and has qualified for the Fiba Africa basketball championships finals four times in a row from 2007 to 2013.
In this issue, Saturday Sport profiles the man who has been in charge of the senior national men's team for the past two years-Moise Mutokambali.
Playing and coaching career
Mutokambali is a great coach but he never was a great player during his brief playing career and says back in the days, there was no qualified coaches to detect and develop talent.
"During my playing days, there were no coaches to detect, integrate and develop talent like it is today, the few that were there, used not to care about young talents but only dealt with senior players that served the purpose at that moment," he says.
He featured for Lycee de Kigali basketball team in several national inter-schools championships but never won any notable silverware with the secondary school.
Mutokambali never featured prominently for any side in the national basketball league save for brief training stints with Espoir and Kigali Institute of Education basketball teams before venturing into coaching in 2005.
"Thanks to former national team coach and my former lecturer, the late Jean de Dieu Nizeyimana, who saw the potential in me and guided me into coaching. Never in my life had I dreamt of coaching as my profession," Mutokambali explains.
From 2005 to 2012, Mutokambali was a coach for his former secondary school team, Lycee de Kigali on a part-time basis on top of carrying out other basketball development roles at different levels.
At Lycee de Kigali, he won one inter-schools championship title in 2013, and reached the final in 2011 and also helped APE Rugunga win the trophy in 2010, EMEN Nyamirambo in 2009 and Lycee Notre Damme de Citeaux in girls' category in 2009.
National team duties
From 2009, Mutokambali has been serving in national teams at different levels and since January 2013, he has been the head coach of the men's senior team.
In 2009, he was assistant coach to Croatian tactician Veceslav Kavedzja who was head coach of women's national senior team that finished 10th out of 12 teams at the Fiba Afro-basket Championships in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
In 2010, he worked as assistant coach of the U-18 national men's team that finished sixth out of ten teams at the African junior basketball championships staged in Kigali.
Two years later, he was the team manager of the U-18 men's team that won Zone five title in Kigali to qualify for junior Afro-basket and went on to finish bottom of the 11-team at the continental meet in Maputo, Mozambique.
In January 2003, Mutokambali was appointed national senior men's team head coach and led the team to second place in Fiba Africa Zone Five tournament held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and 10th place (out of 16 teams) at the Afro-basket Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in his first year in charge.
2014, a nightmare year
# posted by afrbk : 17:08
