By getting their national youth teams past a difficult qualifying process and through to the glamorous 2016 Afro-Basket finals, the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe has proudly demonstrated its development acumen.

Both the boys and girls teams progressed to the continental Under-18 championships after an acid test last weekend particularly for the former who had to wrestle with African powerhouse Mozambique for the sole regional ticket to the Rwanda games.

The Zimbabwean girls' team made short work of Botswana to confirm their berth and prove they are just as good as their senior counterparts who are a regular feature at the top competition as well as the quadrennial All Africa Games.

Most plaudits fell on the boy’s side where Cornway College stars Watida Mukukula, who turns out for his father Ngoni's side Raiders, and his schoolmate Tinashe Mazanhi, lit the court with an illuminating display.

Staring in a playmaking role Mukukula Jnr was all over the court subtracting opponents for speed and skill while Mazanhi, playing point-guard looped three decisive three-pointers withe the clock ticking towards full time and that guaranted the points for the hosts.

But the exquisite Cornway College, perched on the northern of the capital were not the only school to supply players to the team which also drew from Prince Edward, Allan Wilson, Churchill, St George's, St John's  College and from as far afield as Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo.

BUZ though deserve full credit for the current success after laying out a long and adequate training regime that began on April 1 when the boys went into camp at Prince Edward, almost three months before the qualifiers.

The girls commenced their preparations a week later when they moved into Mutare Girls High for their own two-month long drills.

Such an elaborate training schedule was to prove the difference from other disciplines like rugby's Young Sables who assembled a week before the Under-20 World Rugby Trophy and stuttered at home.

Football's Young Warriors fared worse as they grouped only a few days before their CAF Youth Championship qualifiers and were predictably shown the exit by Cameroon.

Eric Banda, one of the best basketballers to emerge in the new millenium, was appointed to handle the boy’s side with BUZ relying on his experience garnered from a rewarding career in the highly-rated Mozambican professional league.

Banda fully applied his acquired knowledge of his opponents by masterminding two determinant victories over his ex-paymasters in the tri-nations tournament staged at the Belvedere Dome.

Sledge Chinyoka, the Zimbabwe Under-18 team manager, attributed their qualification to team effort.

''Hard work, self-determination and patriotism contributed to our success. And not forgetting discipline, if you are not disciplined in sport you cannot achieve more,'' Chinyoka commented.

"Zimbabwean players were disciplined on the court unlike their Mozambican counterparts. Mozambique's best players committed a number of fouls in the first quarter hence they had to be cautious in the later stages of the game, hindering their ability to perform to their level best," he added.

Mukukula hailed his son's performance that earned him the Most Valuable Player unofficial award.

"It is all the work of God," he said.