Basketball in Africa

Mwanza — Mbeya Basketball League has stopped due to financial constraints facing the Mbeya Regional Basketball Association (MBA).
League coordinator Bwigane Seth said the association lacks funds to run the competition. "We don't have funds to pay officials handling the league," he lamented.
He added that apart from financial constraints, the teams lack the necessary facilities such as jerseys, shoes and even scoreboards.
Teams taking part in the league are Mbeya Flames, Mafiat Warriors, Tiger Rangers, Antivirus, Must- Mbeya, Iyunga, Crescent, Teku, Mzumbe, Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and Bwalo Warriors.
The matches were played at the Youth Catholic Centre Ground. "Despite the challenge, we're determined to run the league," Seth said, adding that MBA has a programme of playing friendly matches against teams in the neighbouring regions of Iringa and Njombe.
The Mbeya league plays a great role in the selection of players for the Taifa Cup and BBall Kitaa tournaments. He said his association targets to promote basketball in primary and secondary schools as well as colleges.
MBA also aims to promote women basketball in the region and has urged the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) to support Mbeya region.