NetOne bail out Melissa Mwanza Mr Lazarus Muchenje

Sports Reporter

NETONE have answered Melissa Mwanza’s plea for help to participate at the national basketball global arena by availing $3 000 towards her training and camping expenses in South Africa.

Mwanza is a 14-year-old basketball player and a student at Girls High School in Harare.

She was identified by the Jr.NBA coaches at an Under-14 tournament last year in September at the International School of South Africa in Mafikeng.

She later on, with other six girls and four boys, attended a training camp in December in Rustenburg and that’s where she was selected to go for the Team Africa trials. A team of 10 players will be selected from this camp and they will take part at the U14 Jr.NBA World Championship that will be held in the United States next month.

NetOne also handed over a Huawei Y3 LITE, NetOne line and OneMoney debit card to Mwanza.

The Girls High Schools student left for South Africa on Saturday to join other players from the continent for the camp.

NetOne chief executive, Lazarus Muchenje, whose company has been investing heavily in sport, said they sponsored Mwanza as a way of empowering the girl child.

“We received Melissa’s request for assistance from the Sports and Recreation Commission and as NetOne we didn’t hesitate to assist, as this is a worthy cause of nurturing our young talent.

“Melissa’s participation at these events represents a very rare and potentially life-changing opportunity for her to consolidate her budding basketball career and, therefore, it was important for us to assist her,” he said. Muchenje said NetOne were proud to be associated with the development of sport in the country.

“Sport, the world over, is big business and with the right support and mind-set, the nation will produce world-class talent that will positively project our nation on the global stage.

“As NetOne, we are committed to playing our role in ensuring the development of sport, especially young talent, where our young stars like Melissa go onto the field of play to showcase their talent,” he said.

Melissa’s mother, Anna Mwanza, thanked NetOne for the gesture.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to NetOne for putting a smile on our faces.

“This feels like a dream. I am humbled and I am really at a loss for words,” she said. The camp will culminate in an explosive one-off clash against a Team World Select side in the United States.

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