The annual Inter-Cities basketball tournament was held in Dar es salaam in May of 2014. Thirteen teams participated, ten men’s teams as well as 3 women’s teams. In the men’s division, there were two teams from South Sudan, two from Somaliland while Tanzania as hosts fielded 4 teams. There was also a team from Egypt (Cairo).

Kenya had only one team in the men’s division, Mombasa who finished dead last in their group after losing all their games. Completely missing was a team from Nairobi. In past editions, Nairobi fielded two teams. Presumably they did not send a team due to lack of funds.

The fact that Somaliland and South Sudan were able to send two teams to the tournament puts Nairobi and the rest of Kenya to shame.

How is it that teams from Garowe, Hargeisa as well two teams from Juba were able to send teams whereas Nairobi could not ? It is likely due to better planning. Lack of funds is a lousy excuse when you consider that they have known for several months that this tournament was going to be held sometime in May.

The constant last minute rush for funding

Every year, whenever a Kenya basketball team is due to participate in a tournament on foreign soil, there is always a last minute rush to find much needed funds. This year was no different. A week before the tournament was due , the Nairobi women’s basketball team sent out a passionate appeal for funds.

“We are looking for funds to take the women’s team to Tanzania for the tournament. We plan to take a full squad of 12 players, two coaches, one referee, one chaperon and the Head of Delegation. We have a budget of Sh800, 000. We are appealing for any kind of assistance,” said coach Ronnie Owino in Nairobi on May 5.

It is not clear why Kenyan teams cannot plan ahead even when they know for several months that a tournament is coming up.

Inter City basketball is the best way to draw money into basketball

For local basketball to flourish, they are going to have to generate enough buzz and enough passion about basketball that will make the general public eager to follow the sport , watch it on TV and attend games. When the public becomes interested, sponsors will follow. The sport will be able to generate revenue via gate recepits, television contracts and sponsorship.

An intercity basketball tournament is the best way to generate the kind of passion and buzz that can give basketball a high profile. The Kenya basketball league is currently dominated by institutional teams. With all due respect to these teams, they simply cannot generate any passion amongst the public.

However an annual; tournament that pits Kenyan teams against teams from Rwanda, Uganda, Somaliland and Tanzania can. Whenever Kenya loses to Uganda at any sport, it always stings. A loss to a team from Somalia is even worse. This is because of national pride. It is the kind of pride that simply does not exist when say Cooperative Bank plays against KPA, or even when Coop plays against a Ugandan side like UCU Canons.

However when Nairobi plays against Kampala, the very pride of each of these respective cities is at stake. For that matter even an internal rivalry such as one pitting Nairobi against Kisumu or against Mombasa can generate passion because these cities all have a tradition for basketball.

This is true for all sports. In football, a match between institutional teams like Tusker of Kenya and URA of Uganda elicits yawns. However a match between Kenya Harambee stars and Uganda Cranes  immediatley draws attention. The annual rugby Bamburi series which pits franchise teams from Kenya against franchise teams from Uganda draws hundreds of millions of shillings in sponsorship this year. Basketball should emulate rugby in this regard.

Promote and market this tournament

Part of the reason why the Inter-cities basketball tournament has not lived up to its potential is because no one seems to take it seriously. This year for example, there were no men’s teams from Uganda, none from Rwanda or Burundi and only one from Kenya.

However we must commend Mombasa for sending a team although they did not win any games. It means at least they respect this tournament and see its potential. In the future we should see teams from Nairobi, Kisumu and Nakuru.

A well marketed and well promoted inter-cities tournament will soon have sponsors lining up and TV stations like Supersport eager to pay good money to televise the games.

County governments

The tournament may even provide the impetusfor county governments to build gymnasiums in their respective counties. Since devolution became reality in Kenya, various counties have realized that sport can be a good revenue generator for their counties. As such we have seen counties like Machakos, Meru, Kisumu and Mombasa hurry to refurbish their stadia in order to attract football matches. Just this past weekend, Tusker FC moved their home matches to Meru where they are now drawing 5000 fans to each game , a starke contrast to Nairobi where they only drew about 100 fans.

This tournament can develop grassroots talent.

Kudos to Tanzania for hosting this tournament and the next one in 2015. By fielding teams from 4 cities (Dar, Tanga, Mbeya and Arusha), they are developing the sport of basketball in the grassroots and giving players from outside the capital something to play for. With Tanzania fielding teams from towns like Tanga and Mbeya, the basketball players in these towns have some incentive to work on their game so they can play in this tournament. Contrast this in Kenya where players from Kisumu and Nakuru have nothing to play for. Yet these are towns which have produced excellent players in the past. Kisumu in particular has historically produced a very high proportion of Kenya’s best talent and can do really well in this tournament.

The Kenya basketball federation should emulate their rugby counterparts and their Tanzaniamn counterparts. Take this tournament seriously. Plan early , prepare teams from all the major towns in Kenya. and field at leats four teams each year. Also, work with your counterparts in Uganda and Rwanda and impress upon them the potential that this tournament has.