Momentum for Sprite Ball 2016 Championship is about to hit fever pitch as the intrigue and suspense of filling out the final spots for next year’s national competition roster.
Since its inception in 2007, Sprite Ball has been at the fore front in revolutionizing basketball in Ghana.
Some team’s have safely made it through respective regional qualifiers whereas others are yet to have their school’s name confirmed.
The Championship takes place between January 3-7, 2016 at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra.
Among the qualified teams, some schools have surmounted hitherto insurmountable challenges and surprised a lot of fans in the process.
Basketballghana.com looks at the surprise packages for next year’s tournament.
Kadjebi Asato (Volta Region)
Had the female team of this prestigious school qualified for the championship, it wouldn’t have been a surprise but the male team shocked everyone and the entire Volta Region basketball structure by qualifying.
The fact that they did it at the expense of experienced former winners Keta Senior High School made it their achievement the more commendable.
Going into the main tournament, KASEC’s absent history coupled with their sky high confidence makes them an intriguing prospect to watch out for.
Accra Academy (Greater Accra Region)
It is curious to have one of the biggest and best schools in Ghana’s capital region consistently miss out on likewise, one of the biggest basketball competition in West Africa.
But after years wandering the basketball wilderness, Accra Academy finally will make a long awaited appearance at the Sprite Ball Championship.
“Bl33oo))” can rely heavily on their vociferous and vocal fans should there be a need to get behind their beloved school. Accra Academy looked very impressive in the regional games and look set to cause a major surprise come January.
Opponents better not sleep on the “Academicians” because once they do, it will be at their peril.
Aggrey Memorial Mount Zion School Boys’ (Central Region)
Aggrey Memorial’s name among qualified schools for next year’s tournament shouldn’t raise any eyebrows. After all, the school has bagged back to back national titles in the past two Sprite Ball editions.
However, Aggrey Memorial’s male basketball team has ensured the school’s name will be present in both sex categories for the first time in tournament history.
The team did a marvelous job of qualifying from a typically strong Central Region field. Thanks to an astitute approach to discipline and team work, Aggrey’s male team has history for itself and will hope to continue a long tournament tradition of debutants causing major upsets.
