The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent —
AN ambitious project aimed at tapping and exposing talent in Mutare and Zimbabwe at large has resulted in the formation of Eastern Hoops Basketball Academy in Mutare.
Unlike most academies which have emerged in the country, Eastern Hoops Academy is a non-profit making organisation founded in Mutare last year by Dangamvura Knights and Zimbabwe star player, Moses Muyambo and national basketball team assistant coach, Innocent Sithole.
Speaking to the Weekender, Muyambo said their aim was to help develop basketball in the city and to expose untapped talent in urban and rural areas.
“We formed this academy last year to benefit our community. We hope to raise great athletes who will participate at the highest levels of the game. At the moment we have a total of 15 young boys and girls from the age of five to 20 years.
We are still enrolling as we are doing outreach programmes. We aim at scouting, training, developing and linking talented players with life changing opportunities. We also want to keep them off the streets and from drugs. We are also going to schools in and around Mutare conducting trainings,” he said.
The academy has introduced outreach programmes to reach out to less privileged children, particularly in remote areas.
The academy uses Mutare Girls’ High School as their training ground.
Muyambo said they want to give underprivileged talented children opportunities to transform their lives through basketball.
He also said they wanted the academy to be a hub for nurturing basketball players, not only for the domestic scene, but for every lucrative league in the country.
Muyambo who is a national team and Dangamvura Knights player started his basketball career in at a tender age of eight.
He has coached the provincial team that participated in the 2010 youth games and won a bronze medal. He also had a fruitful season with Mutare Boys’ High team which won gold in 2010 at the NASH competition.
He also had a stint with Hillcrest College which became the provincial champions in the NASH Games. He has played for Mercenaries who were recently crowned local champions nine times. Muyambo has won several awards as a player which made him won national team call up.
In 2015, he was part of the national team which took part in the AFROBASKET tournament in Tunisia.
Innocent Sithole is a talented player who has played for Mercenaries as well as the national team. He is now the senior national team assistant coach.
