Rising basketball star heads for US then Angola - Jul 7, 2010 (by Thomas Fink)
MOSES MATENGA - Jan 25 2010 14:32 www.newsday.co.zw
He is more than two metres tall and still a schoolboy.Though his height is a major attraction, it was his basketball talent that got him noticed by foreign scouts. Vitalis Chikoko, 18, an Upper Six student from Prince Edward High School in Harare has attracted the interest of basketball scouts from Angola. Chikoko, who plays for DZ Raiders, excelled in a recent regional tournament at City Sports Centre [read more]
MOSES MATENGA - Jan 25 2010 14:32 www.newsday.co.zw
He is more than two metres tall and still a schoolboy.Though his height is a major attraction, it was his basketball talent that got him noticed by foreign scouts. Vitalis Chikoko, 18, an Upper Six student from Prince Edward High School in Harare has attracted the interest of basketball scouts from Angola. Chikoko, who plays for DZ Raiders, excelled in a recent regional tournament at City Sports Centre. In one of his better performances, the lanky centre-power forward scored 22 points against Zambias Lusaka Looters. He made his 2,1m frame do the talking.
In another game, Chikoko frustrated 29 year old Angolan veteran Joaquim Gomez (2.03m) who had to sit out in the third and forth quarter. Gomez is a star in his own right as he played in the United States, Germany and Netherlands but his massive experience counted for little against Chikoko. 'I marked Gomez out of the game and I feel that was the game that made the guys appreciate my style of play,' said Chikoko. Since then, four international clubs have shown interest in signing Chikoko but two are very serious.
'Two Angolan clubs Petro and Azar are very serious in signing the boy and we have asked them to formalise the process,' said Chikokos coach at Raiders Ngoni Mukukula. The Angolans have already sent their representatives to speak to Raiders and Chikokos father, Anthony Chikoko, about signing the talented Prince Edward player. This week Headmaster Kevin Atkinson was visibly ecstatic with Chikokos achievements. 'His talent is enormous and I believe all will be well since he is just good on the floor,' said Atkinson. He said Chikoko had already won many accolades including the 2009 Most Valuable Player, 2008.
Chikoko captained the national under 18 basketball team last year during the FIBA world cup qualifiers held at the City Sports Centre. 'I started playing in grade seven at Glen View 1 Primary School and won a scholarship to go Churchill then Prince Edward,' said Chikoko the last born. He has a brother and sister. Nicknamed 'Alefu' because of his height, Chikoko, wears size 13 shoes imported from South Africa. Chikoko has already agreed to join the Angolan champions on a scholarship that will see him travel to the US in a few weeks. The US trip will include training and orientation.
The players father Chikoko said: 'Hes only 18 and promising so I wont stop him from achieving his goals because basketball is his talent'.
Unicorns write piece of history - May 27, 2010 (by Thomas Fink)
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe national championships losing finalists in the men's category, Unicorns, have become the first Midlands team to qualify for an African championship.The club will take part in the African Club Championships to be held in Mozambique towards the end of the year. The Gweru team finished second in the national championships held in Bulawayo last weekend after losing to JBC 83-55 in the final [read more]
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe national championships losing finalists in the men's category, Unicorns, have become the first Midlands team to qualify for an African championship. The club will take part in the African Club Championships to be held in Mozambique towards the end of the year. The Gweru team finished second in the national championships held in Bulawayo last weekend after losing to JBC 83-55 in the final.
Unicorns were rewarded for their hard work in the past two seasons with an opportunity to represent the country in the African event. Yesterday elated player/coach Walter Mabhena said his side welcomed the new challenge and would work hard to impress in future assignments. 'We have slowly been gaining in confidence as a young club with one dream to make it big in future. Finishing second was an improvement to the club's achievements and now we look forward to the next challenge. 'Preparations for the Africa Club Championships to be held in Mozambique begin now with the issue of ensuring that all our players have valid travelling documents and the earlier we process the documents the better,' said Mabhena. He said it was unfortunate that the team missed the big one but paid tribute to the players.
'We missed the top one the champions medal but that is not just the end. We will still work harder to achieve it but for now we are in the right track. Tribute goes to the players for the focus,' said Mabhena. 'Unicorns' success is shared by the Midlands basketball fraternity that had not achieved much since the inception of the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe,' he said. Simba Chiromo, Menashe Mahere, Raylton Nhau, Kennedy Bushu and Dumisani Magusha were in exceptional form this season for Unicorns and deservedly achieved more than any other team in Midlands basketball history.
All set for national championship finals - May 20, 2010 (by Thomas Fink)
THE Bulawayo Basketball Association is ready to play host to the national championship finals set for Bulawayo Club of the Disabled on Saturday. Preliminaries for the tournament were held in Harare a fortnight ago with city clubs giving a good account of themselves with three Bulawayo teams qualifying for the semi-finals. The City of Kings is being represented by Giants and Highlanders in the womens category while in the mens Kings stood the heat to stay among the countrys top four clubs [read more]
THE Bulawayo Basketball Association is ready to play host to the national championship finals set for Bulawayo Club of the Disabled on Saturday. Preliminaries for the tournament were held in Harare a fortnight ago with city clubs giving a good account of themselves with three Bulawayo teams qualifying for the semi-finals. The City of Kings is being represented by Giants and Highlanders in the womens category while in the mens Kings stood the heat to stay among the countrys top four clubs. Joe Mujuru a spokesperson for the organisers of the event and also a member of the provincial executive and Kings management, said Bulawayo was ready to give a good account of itself on both the courts and in organising.
We are ready to play host to the national championships and all the teams have confirmed their participation and are expected to arrive tomorrow (today). The supporters should come in their numbers to support their home teams, he said. The Bulawayo teams have fully prepared for the nationals and are ready to battle it out for the gold medals. Kings have declared war on JBC the Harare based team. Garikai Gumbo of Kings is nursing an injury and has been doing light training. He could however be among the trumpcards if he recovers on time for Saturdays matches. With the winners and runners-up to take part in the Clubs All-Africa Championships in South Africa later during the year, fireworks are expected at BCD. One of the semi-finals will be an all-Bulawayo womens encounter pitting Highlanders and Giants in what should be a tightly contested match.
Giants were the more dominant in provincial activity last season and Highlanders will all be out to redeem themselves and rekindle memories of their golden past in which with Unita Dube, Abigail Little, Angela Muhomba and MaRo Phiri they dominated Kodak Championships. Their opponents have been a formidable preposition in the last 15 years. Harares JBC and Raiderz complete the semi-final line up in the womens category. In the mens section Midlanders Unicorn will carry the Southern Regions hopes of sporting success when they take on Raiderz in the first semi-final. The second will be between Bulawayo hopefuls Kings and JBC. The first match of the day will be at 8.30am. Third place play-offs will precede the finals with the womens at 1730 hours.
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