Rwandan Danny Kirenga continues to impress in the Bukavu League after four consecutive wins for his side BC Ami-BK.
After spells in top-flight league basketball clubs like APR BBC and 30 Plus BBC, St Joseph Kabgayi, and KIE, former Rwandan basketball player, Danny Kirenga caught the attention of the Bukavu basketball side BC Ami-BK.
The team went ahead to sign a deal with the Rwandan coach to guide and share his experience with the players for a good two years
Today, BC Ami-BK started their second leg matches with a heavy win against Bagira BC, 92-41, the same side they defeated, 86-48 in the last round of the first leg. Ami-BK led all quarters of the game, 17-11,23-11,26-10,26-09.
BC Ami-BK plays in the Bakavu League, a league played in the city of Bukavu located far east of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the western border of Rwanda, south of Lake Kivu.
Bukavu League has 16 teams which are divided into 2 groups this year. Each group containing 8 teams with Danny Kirenga’s Ami-BK in the group that plays games at ISP de Bukavu.
In the interview with Coach Danny Kirenga, He tells us about his journey to the DRC, their league level, and what he thinks he will benefit from as a start-up coach.
When asked how the DRC Championship, especially the Bukavu League compares to the Rwandan Championship, coach Danny Kirenga said.
“Let me talk about our Bukavu League. Here we only use the nationals and mostly young players due to the grassroots development system that has already been established here. Bukavu has five basketball academies. Therefore, they give the opportunity to young players, then add few experienced players to uplift the overall performance, while in Rwandan League, teams can acquire foreigners and the numbers of young players in the title contenders’ clubs are very small plus DRC Basketball is very physically because of the youth.”
You had been a great player in Rwanda, you served as the team manager of Espoir. Why did you choose to start a coaching career abroad instead of following the footstep of your fellow generation mates?
“My dream was a technical direction call. I had also tried to run for a technical advisory post in the federation, although I did not make it,” he said.
“However, the fact that you have been a player, been a technical staff member, you are in contact with the coaches which means that you have skills and connections. That is how I found myself in Bukavu. They approached me since they knew me as a player, knew my ability to transmit the knowledge/skills of Basketball I have,” he added.
Coach Danny Kirenga was part of GS Joseph Kabgayi’s generation that played in the first division along with Coach John Bahufite, Coach Manu, Coach Yves Nkurunziza to mention but a few.
What responsibilities were you given when you signed the contract and what are your goals for the first year as head coach?
“When I signed the contract at BC AMI-BK, I was asked to win the Bukavu League, and qualify the team in the “Coupe du Congo” in Kinshasa, a tournament contested by regional winners to decide the country’s champion,” he said.
Personally, I would like to qualify the team to “Coupe du Congo” first then go further and finish in the top four. Usually, Teams from the East, I mean from Bukavu and Goma, get out of the tournament (Coupe du Congo) early. I want to compete until the last four,” he added.
How was the club before you joined it, the current situation, and your strategies to get it to the top spot?
“At the time I signed for this club, they struggled in defense. Consequently, they had lost against Mandeleo, which tops the ranking. They used to score many points but defensively, they were not organized and sometimes lost concentration easily. Therefore, that is the first thing I had to work on. Even the club leaders before hiring me told me about it. They wanted me to solve those defense issues,” said the new coach.
“For me, as a former defensive player. That is an easy task. I am helping them, learning is a process, and I can see the improvement. Because since I took over no opponent has been able to score at least 60 points in the game,” Danny Kirenga added.
Mr. Danny Kirenga, finally yet important, what are you benefiting from coaching in DRC?
“Coaching is the most challenging career, I have to work hard and I am not here for only coaching purposes but also to learn. There are basketball academies, we don’t have them in Rwanda. So, as a technically oriented person, I always acquire skills in development, talent detection, and in the near future, I will connect the players to my fellow coaches in Rwanda. There are talents, some promising players,” Danny Kirenga ended.
In all eight games played, seven from the first leg and one from the second leg so far, Mandeleo BC is leading the table after winning all eight games followed by BC Ami-BK that has lost one of the eight in the group which is based at the Institut Superieur Pedagogique de Bukavu, ISP.
The playoffs are expected to be played in the first days of July.
