Basketball Africa League to Host Series of Youth Development and Social Impact Events 

KIGALI, Rwanda, May 21, 2024/ — Rwanda Development Board, Imbuto Foundation, Special Olympics, Shooting Touch and RwandAir to Support Ancillary Events During 2024 BAL Playoffs (https://BAL.NBA.com/) and Finals from May 24 – June 1; BAL to Host League’s First-Ever Pan-African U-23 Women’s Camp from May 28 – June 1; Tickets for Playoffs and Finals on Sale Now at BAL.NBA.com and Ticqet.rw; Fans Can Save Up to 35% On Group Packages.

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) today announced a series of youth development and social impact events in conjunction with the 2024 BAL Playoffs and Finals, which will take place from Friday, May 24 – Saturday, June 1 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.  

Below is an overview of the events, which will be held in collaboration with BAL Foundational Partner Rwanda Development Board as well as the Imbuto Foundation, Special Olympics, Shooting Touch and RwandAir:

“BAL Advance” Careers in Sports Workshop

On Wednesday, May 22, the “BAL Advance” Careers in Sports Workshop will bring together BAL players, staff, coaches, and “BAL Future Pros” (https://apo-opa.co/4bwFSOz) for career development discussions and networking opportunities. BAL Future Pros, which launched this year, helps young professionals from across Africa pursue careers within the sports ecosystem and develop their skills, network and experience in the sports industry by working within one of the BAL’s 10 departments: business development, digital production, event management, logistics, marketing, marketing partnerships, merchandising, public relations and communications, social responsibility and player programs, and travel and hospitality.

Umuganda on Africa Day

On Saturday, May 25, the BAL will once again (https://apo-opa.co/4brnF50) work with the Imbuto Foundation to celebrate Africa Day with Umuganda community service activation alongside BAL guests and youth from the local basketball community. This year’s event will take place at the Kimironko Community Court that was unveiled last year in collaboration with the Imbuto Foundation and will include beautifying the space, and planting trees. Umuganda, which is held in Rwanda on the last Saturday of each month, is a day dedicated to community service that supports a variety of public works, including infrastructure development and environmental protection.

Special Olympics

On Sunday, May 26, the BAL and Special Olympics will host a unified basketball game at BK Arena featuring Special Olympics ambassadors and athletes. For the second consecutive year, the BAL and Special Olympics are using the power of sports to support people with intellectual disabilities (https://apo-opa.co/3uTkH9y) and help them discover new strengths, abilities, skills, and success. 

U-23 BAL4HER Camp

From Tuesday, May 28 – June 1, the league will host its first-ever Pan-African U-23 BAL4HER women’s camp to empower and develop talented young female athletes on-and-off the court. The five-day camp will bring together 20 of the top U-23 prospects from 14 African countries for on-court development and life-skills programming, including practices and a showcase at Lycée de Kigali, career development workshops and networking sessions, and cultural and community engagement experiences. 

BAL4HER Day

On Wednesday, May 29 as part of BAL4HER day, the league will bring together 100 young female professionals interested in careers in sports to take part in a basketball clinic, VIP game-day experience and workshop focused on building careers in the sports industry. BAL4HER is the league’s platform for advancing gender equity in the African sports ecosystem and celebrating women in the sports industry who serve as role models to young women across the continent.

Shooting Touch Event

On Friday, May 31, the BAL will collaborate with Shooting Touch for the second consecutive year to host a basketball event featuring 200 young women from the Bugesera community and the U-23 BAL4HER campers.  The BAL4HER campers will serve as coaches during the clinic and support the reproductive health and rights workshop that will happen during the event.

2024 BAL Playoffs and Finals

The 2024 BAL Playoffs will feature the top eight teams from the regular season: FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco), Petro de Luanda (Angola), Al Ahly (Egypt), Al Ahly Ly (Libya), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), AS Douanes (Senegal), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) and US Monastir (Tunisia). The complete game schedule for the Playoffs and Finals, which is available at BAL.NBA.com, features four seeding games followed by an eight-game, single-elimination playoffs, culminating with the Finals on June 1 at 4:00 p.m. CAT.

Tickets for the Playoffs and Finals are on sale now at BAL.NBA.com and Ticqet.rw.  Single game tickets for the four seeding games on May 24 and May 25 start at 2500RWF, and at 1600RWF for the Quarterfinals and Semifinals on May 26, 27, and 29.  Fans can save up to 20% on single game ticket prices by purchasing a tournament pass for all Playoffs and Finals games and up to 35% off single game ticket prices for group packages by emailing BalTickets@thebal.com.  Fans who purchase tickets will also have free access to the BAL Fan Zone at BK Arena on each game day. 

The 2024 BAL season is reaching fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages through free-to-air and paid TV broadcast partnerships with the African Union of Broadcasting, American Forces Network (AFN), Canal+, NBA TV, SuperSport, Tencent Video, TSN, TV5 Monde, Visionary TV and Voice of America (VOA), and livestreaming on the NBA App (https://apo-opa.co/43eJtgR), NBA.com, YouTube channel (https://apo-opa.co/3twvshm).