Vikapu Queens and Hoopers under 18 girls and boys teams won the inaugural Vikapu Elite three by three (3×3) basketball tournament in Nairobi last weekend.
Tournament founder and basketball coach Zedekiah Otieno emphasized the need to have more tournaments that will serve talent development purposes.
“We had 15 teams taking part in both categories for the under 16 and 18 years of age for boys and girls. The main idea is to have an exposure platform for these young men and women to showcase their talents ready for clubs at national or international levels as well as national teams,” said Otieno who was happy with the levels of the game so far from the young ones.
In the men’s finals , Hoopers from the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) won by 12-8 points against Pro Basketball Academy from Nairobi, an achievement that head coach Guillaume Ngando promised to take back to the DRC with pride and honour as he prepares his players for Junior national team assignments.
Shem Otieno successfully guided Kayole FEBA to a victory against Rose Mshila’s Vikapu Elite Girls to claim the top honours in the girls category, an all Kenyan affair in the event that saw the maiden trophy remain on home soil as winners in both categories walked away with 10,000 Ksh, trophies, basketballs and medals.
Nisi Mayaka won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the girls’ category as David Gichohi did the same in the boys’ category.
The first edition of the tournament was centered towards mental health among young athletes and how to face modern trends of advertising of life as founder Zedekia Otieno added that he is in talks with more partners to ensure that they can host the tournament in a by month basis as they continue to strive and create a players platform for young athletes.
