Attempts to lure sponsors have so far drawn blanks, leaving the association with the embarrassment of having to start the league, which runs from September to April, without the needed cash flow. Mbare Heat are the defending men’s champions, while Varsity Leopards won the women’s section last season.
The HBA is the biggest basketball league in Zimbabwe, with more than 38 men and women’s teams in the A League and about half that figure in the B League. It lost a host of sponsors after it split into two rival factions, one led by Gilchrist Mageza and the other by Roderick Takawira. A solution found to the impasse dovetailed the clubs under one leadership, but the sponsors have stayed out.
Last year, the league relied on club affiliation fees and at one time 10 clubs were suspended from competing, after they failed to pay their fees in full. These were Air Force Falcons, Faithwear Jammers, Assassins, Black Rhinos, Hawks (all A League teams), Lakers, Las Models, Mbare Vets, Platinum Ballers and Richwood.