Rwanda’s representatives in the upcoming inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL), Patriots Basketball Club, will begin training ahead of next week’s elite competition.
The BAL maiden season is set to kick off from May 16 to 30 in Kigali, Rwanda.
This will also be the first professional league run by the NBA outside North America.
Patriots Basketball Club spokesperson, Jose Edouard Munyangaju in an interview with Times Sport on Monday, noted that the club’s sessions will be held in compliance of COVID-19 preventive measures.
“Due to the conditions in this period, we are yet to officially start formal training because we need to respect the guidelines in place to fight COVID-19. But their training will happen at various locations in the city, and they are well monitored by the technical team,” he said.
Did you know each club participating in #theBAL season is to have four foreign players and has to have at least 8 local players on its roster? Watch the BAL Hang Time sequence and learn all about the team roster structure. @NBA @NBA_Africa pic.twitter.com/nLPx0f1jdO
— Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) April 12, 2021
“The team will be training under strict COVID-19 guidelines to protect themselves as well as the public,” he added.
Munyanaju also said that the club might draft new players for the tournament.
Below is the list of clubs from 12 African countries that will compete in the inaugural BAL season:
Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique), GNBC (Madagascar), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), Petro de Luanda (Angola), AS Douanes (Senegal), AS Police (Mali), FAP (Cameroon), Union Sportive Monastir (Tunisia), AS Sale (Morocco), GSP (Algeria), Patriots (Rwanda) and Zamalek (Egypt).
