The Urbanvile Vanguards and Seal Team were crowned the overall women’s and men’s team winners of the Kisumu edition of the Red Bull Halfcourt 3-on-3 basketball tournament held at the Magadi Primary School in Kisumu.
The tournament which was organized by Red Bull Kenya in partnership with Kenya Basketball Federation attracted a total of 27 teams which included 8 ladies’ teams and 19 men’s teams from the region.
Participating teams in the region were garnering to book slots in the National Finals that will be played on the 28th of May in Nairobi.
The Seal team will be joined by Platinum, Pacho, and Flat- earthers in the Men’s category while in the women’s category, the Urbanvile Vanguards will be joined by the Dutches team comprised of Faith Kawera, Sween Khianje, Carol Akinyi, and Diaper Bebrah; who will be hoping to shine in the National Finals.
Dave Michaels, Chairman of the Kenya Basketball Federation – Kisumu County said the tournament showcased the region as a talent hub and a potential Sports tourism destination even as the city prepares to host the AfriCities Summit which will be held from the 17th to 21st May in Kisumu.
“We are grateful to Red Bull for promoting the 3-on-3 culture in the region. We hope to use this event as a means of talent identification and basketball development in the wider region.”
Mary Oriaro a development coach and a FIBA accredited referee said there is a need to promote the involvement of more women in Basketball.
“We can not underestimate the role that women play in sports. While a lot has been done to support them we would like to urge more corporates to join hands and support this conversation.”
Participants in the tournament lauded the platform as an opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their exposure to possible scouts in basketball.
Graham Ochieng from Maseno Dukes said the platform was key for sports development in the region
”We are grateful to Redbull for the opportunity to play in the tournament, through this platform we hope to improve our basketball skills for the better.”
“I have not been in a competitive basketball game in a while something which I am hoping to change after this tournament because of the level of competitiveness of the teams playing here” added Vivian Nafuna from the Swift Blues Basketball Team.
Focus now shifts to the Nairobi qualifiers which will be held on the May 13, 2022 at the University of Nairobi Grounds before the National Finals take a center on the May 28, 2022.
