THE Basketball Dar es Salaam League (BDL) has been rescheduled to tip- off on May 6th and not on April 1st this year as it was previously stated.
As stated by Basketball Dar es Salaam Association’s Director of Planning, Development and Marketing Commission Terence Mhumbira, preparation for the league is in a top gear and everything is place for the regional level league to start early next month.
He said that this year’s league will see an increase of the women’s teams to 12, while 16 teams will be engaged in a hunt for men league’s top honour.
Mhumbira said since this year, the name of the league has been changed from RBA (Regional Basketball Association-League) to BDL (Basketball Dar es Salaam League).
“We want to take this opportunity to announce the new brand name of our league which will now be known as BDL,” he explained.
Explaining further, Mhumbira said it was a wise decision to change the league’s brand name since the association’s name has also been changed in recent years from Regional Basketball Association to Basketball Dar es Salaam.
Men’s teams engaged in this year’s league include the defending champions Pazi, ABC, Oilers, Chui, Dar City, Polisi, Don Bosco Oysterbay and Savio.
Others are JKT, UDSM Outsiders, Jogoo, Ukonga Kings, Mchenga, Ukonga Warriors, Mgulani JKT and Vijana City Bulls.
The women’s teams listed are Don Bosco Lioness, JKT Stars, Jeshi Stars, Kurasini Divas, Mchenga Queens, Pazi Queens, Ukonga Queens, City Queens, UDSM Queens, Police Stars and Oilers Princesses.
According to BD, the model that will be used for the year 2023 League will be of two rounds (home & away basis), after the end of the first round, there will be a one-week period of mini window registration for teams that did not reach the required number of players.
After the round stage, the top eight (8) teams will qualify for the quarter-final stage (playoff stage).
The quarter-final stage will be played with three games (best of three), and in the semi-final stage, it will be played with (the best of five) according to the organisers.
In the third-place winner, the battle will be played in one game while the final will see the teams battle into the best of seven.
The three-bottom-placed teams in the men’s discipline will be relegated and play in Division One league next in 2024.
