All set for women basketball play-offs

NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – All is set for the maiden edition of women’s basketball’s play-offs, which are scheduled for this Saturday at the Ratjomose Sports Ground. Dubbed the Back to School Ladies and Under-23 Tournament, the main purpose of the games is to empower women basketball players as well as develop young players.

According to the Lesotho Basketball Association (LBA) Public Relations Officer, Sam Motsamai, this is going to be the first time the play-offs take place in the history of the LBA.

“This is going to be the first time we hold this tournament, and it is open to all women basketballers of all ages,” he told Public Eye in an interview yesterday. Motsamai further said: “The whole tournament is intended for women basketballers, but we have decided to also include men’s under-23 teams for the development of basketball in general.”

He said that even though this will be the first edition of the play-offs, the competition will also be open to foreign teams. “The tournament is open to both local and foreign teams, but until now, no foreign team has registered, but we are still expecting them to register until Friday,” he said.

Motsamai said eight local basketball clubs had already registered for the games at the time he talked to Public Eye yesterday. “As we talk, we have eight teams that have confirmed their participation in the tournament; six of them are women’s clubs and three are men’s under-23 sides,” he said.

Motsamai said the six women’s teams that had already registered for the tournament included two from Lerotholi Polytechnic, Sharks, Lichocha, Tigers, and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), while the three men’s under-23 clubs comprised LP, T.E.F. (Team Engoe Feela), and LUCT.

The LBA major league season is scheduled to kick-off next month, with Motsamai saying there will be 14 clubs vying for the championship.

“We currently have 14 teams registered with us, and the number is likely to increase because we have invited new clubs like Botho University, and CAS. Hopefully, they will join us before the league starts on February 23,” he said.

Apart from that, Motsamai said LBA had a high school basketball league that has just ended recently. He said LBA is currently preparing to hold high school top 8 and top 4 finals, which are set to take place from February 17–18.

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the country, from the high school level to the LBA major league.