3x3 Under-23 team off to Romania for Nations Cup

National 3x3 women’s basketball team's jets out on Tuesday 13 September to Constanta, Romania, for the FIBA 3x3 U-23 Nations League. 

The team received a major boost when the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) extended their support to a tune of Ksh 1.1 million. 

Nations League is the first stride in qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, whereby the top country earns a direct ticket. Should the country fail to qualify, they get another opportunity if they are to become the leading nation in the Africa Cup in December, in Cairo.

Kenya play in Pool D, alongside Japan and Lithuania. The top country in each pool qualifies for the quarter-finals followed by knockouts, heading to the final.

The Kenyan team consists of four athletes led by Alexandra Juma from Strathmore who will captain the side with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) duo of Medina Okot and Yvonne Okelo as well as Zetech Sparks' Jackline Kogo making the rest of the squad. 

Head coach, Tonny Ochieng and team manager Hilmi Ali will accompany the team to the games slated for 14 to16 September. 

The Kenyan women’s team and the Rwanda Men’s team were selected to represent Africa after winning the Africa South Conference of the FIBA 3x3 Nations League 2022 at the Nyayo National Stadium on July 11-16 where Kenya gathered 510 points.

"This is the biggest tournament straight from the Commonwealth Games. The team is very young, with the youngest player Okot, 18 years of age, having gained experience in Birmingham. 

The motivation for this young team is to keep learning the game and reach the biggest global stage in basketball which is the Olympics," said Hilmi who is the 3x3 national co-ordinator and vice-chairman of the Kenyan Basketball Federation (KBF).

Speaking during the NOC-K sponsorship presentation, Secretary General (SG) Francis Mutuku, flanked by NOC-K women representative Paurvi Rawal spoke on the importance of the support as a stepping stone to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“We take pride in supporting this young team as they head out for the first step towards Paris 2024. At a time where there is limited resources available to teams because of the prevailing circumstances, we deploy our meagre resources to support teams in preparations towards the Olympics and we would not like to see them missing any opportunity, particularly with the promise we see in youthful players," Mutuku offered. 

The committee insists that their priority is on supporting young teams which is in a strategic focus and objective not only towards Paris 2024, but Los Angeles 2028. 

"A team has to be consistent, on the path to Olympics (an Olympic or World Cup qualifier) and numbers are not large. The pool can only support as much,"  Mutuku expalined.

Speaking, while receiving the Kshs 1.1 million cheque, the skipper thanked NOC-K and assured that the team, which has been practicing at Nyayo Stadium, was more than ready.

“For a young girl who’s grown up in Kibera and only got to Strathmore through a Scholarship and now I get to represent my country and for the first time, even to go on international duty, all I can do, and I speak for my team, is bring glory back home. The team is ready and above that, young and full of hope," she offered.