Home/News

From around
the province

The latest from Matabeleland North basketball, the Victoria Falls clubs, schools competition and grassroots development across the districts.

Victoria Falls Panthers celebrate on court
FeatureProvincial champions
Clubs · Victoria Falls

Panthers fly the flag for Victoria Falls basketball

Affiliated with the Matabeleland North Basketball League, the Victoria Falls Panthers have grown from a school programme into a multi-tiered club with junior and senior teams, a ladies' division and a wheelchair basketball unit, using the game to build stronger communities across the tourism capital.

Source: Victoria Falls Panthers Basketball Club · vicfallspanthers.com

Latest stories

Around Mat North basketball

Verified stories touching Matabeleland North and its basketball community, drawn from Zimbabwean sports coverage.

May2024
Provincial league · Results

Victoria Falls Suns crowned Top Teams League champions

The Suns finished the Matabeleland North Top Teams League season unbeaten on 12 points to be crowned provincial champions, with Victoria Falls Panthers second on 10 and Hwange's Royal Eagles Academy third. Suns guard Isaac Sibanda was named league MVP, averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds a game. Co-ordinator Brighton John Musaidzi said the league, run from February by the clubs themselves, gave players the game time they badly needed to revive the sport.

Source: Chronicle / Zimpapers Sports Hub, "Victoria Falls Suns crowned champions" · 1 May 2024

Jun2024
Regional · Southern Region League

Southern Region Basketball League returns, with Panthers in the mix

The Southern Region Basketball League was revived to lift the standard of the game across Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, Midlands and Masvingo. Victoria Falls Panthers line up alongside Highlanders, Warriors, Legends, Falcons, Wolves, Southern Mavericks, Unicorns and Lakers, with the league aimed at grooming quality players and boosting performance at the National Championships.

Source: Chronicle, "Southern Region Basketball League returns" · 19 June 2024

Jan2024
Development · Academy

Victoria Falls Basketball Academy set to grow grassroots talent

Plans for a Victoria Falls Basketball Academy were unveiled to grow grassroots basketball, reach under-served rural communities on the town's periphery and set up a functional junior league. Musaidzi said the academy is developing a provincial policy to register and train all coaches and officials, including child-protection training, so that basketball courts are safe places for children to learn and grow.

Source: Herald / Chronicle, "Basketball Academy for Vic Falls" · 12 January 2024

Feb2024
National · Governance

Matabeleland North league earns a place in the national picture

As the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe reshaped its national league format, Matabeleland North was recognised for recently introducing a league with teams from Hwange and Victoria Falls, one of the active provincial leagues feeding into the national competition. The debate underlined how a running provincial league is what puts a province on the national map.

Source: Herald, "Mixed feelings over Basketball Union of Zimbabwe new league format" · 27 February 2024

Jan2024
Schools · Partnership

Victoria Falls club partners with a school to widen access

Building on sustained growth for Victoria Falls Panthers and the Hwange region through 2023, the club moved to partner with a school and keep running tournaments to expose its players to more competition, reinforcing the pathway from the classroom into provincial basketball.

Source: Chronicle, "Victoria Falls basketball club partners school" · 15 January 2024

Jul2024
Schools · Provincial results

Hwange and Bubi top provincial schools basketball

Matabeleland North fielded teams in every ball-games discipline, basketball included, for the first time ahead of the NAPH national finals in Bulawayo. Hwange topped the girls' basketball standings and Bubi led the boys, with the province camped at David Livingstone Primary School in Umguza for final preparations.

Source: VicFallsLive, "Mat North ready to shine at NAPH national finals" · 31 July 2024

These stories are gathered from public Zimbabwean sports coverage of Matabeleland North basketball. Send us your own match reports and results and we'll publish them here with full credit.
Read more

Follow the coverage

External sources covering Matabeleland North basketball and its clubs.

Chronicle · Suns crowned champions

Full Matabeleland North Top Teams League standings and MVP

Open

Chronicle · Southern Region League

The regional league revival featuring Victoria Falls Panthers

Open

Herald · Basketball Academy for Vic Falls

The academy plan and provincial coach-registration policy

Open

VicFallsLive · Schools basketball

Provincial schools ball-games results

Open
Got a story?

Send us
your results

Clubs, coaches and schools, share your match reports, scores and photos and we'll feature them here.

Submit a story View Gallery