MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
THE newly introduced ‘Hook It Up’ basket tournament organised by the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYCD) took centre stage at the weekend by attracting a high turnout of players.
OYDC public relations officer Noah Silomba said the annual tournament aimed to promote 3-aside basketball from the conventional 5-aside.
Silomba told the Sun sport in an interview that 10 teams were entered for the inaugural competition which saw NAPSA Hurricanes, UNZA, Kabulonga and many other teams participate in it.
He said that the tournament would see some teams participate and win prizes at the end.
Silomba said that the Centre was using the tournament to promote the use of 3 aside in basketball games which was going to be a common feature at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“We are trying to encourage athletes to be using the 3 on 3 system unlike the conventional 5 aside one, which most of you will be seeing during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic tournament,
“If more people can use it, it will be better especially for those who might qualify to the games next year,” said Silomba
Meanwhile Silomba said that the centre had continued to attract huge scores of athletes who had continued to access some of its facilities.
“We encourage people to continue using facilities from the OYDC as you know the centre is a safe haven for talent identification and development of youths. We receive quite a number of them who get to participate in basketball, tennis, badminton and many other games,’’ he said.
Silomba further said that the centre was impressed with the turn out from netballers participating in the on-going Teulings tournament.
He said OYDC had continued to receive a number of athletes in the sport of netball and that the tournament had attracted 7 netball teams.
The Tuelings was an OYDC organized tournament which comprised of Taekwondo, volleyball, netball and swimming that had been running since March and closing in November.
