07 May 2015

Botswana basketball protégé, Churchill Burrow,s says he is enjoying an opportunity of playing professional basketball following his recent breakthrough in Europe.

Burrows has been playing for Malta second division club, Hibernians, on trials for the past three months and explained that he has made positive impression. 

Back in Botswana for holiday, the 24-year-old former Dolphins captain said it was always his dream to play professional basketball.

He said his stint in the Maltese league was hugely successful as he played an important role in the Hibernians winning the second division league and two cup competitions. The team has now promoted to the premier division. 

Burrows pointed that his exploits in helping elevate Hibernians to the top division and cup glory have led to a clamor of interest in his services by a number of clubs in Malta.

“I went to Malta on a mission to be Botswana’s next player in the European market. Luckily I joined a good team and it has been a great experience for me. I was happy with my contribution, and I have offers from three teams, some of them in the top division,” Burrows said in a media interaction onTuesday May 5.

Even though the Maltese set up is very professional compared to the local league, Burrows said he did not struggle to adapt to his new environment. 

“The first requirement for succeeding in a professional set up is to train hard. I didn’t consider myself a super talented player therefore I worked hard everyday,” said Burrows, who revealed that his next ambition is to play in the world famous NBA League in the United States of America.

The exciting player, who is also part of the senior national team set up, believes that his exploits in Malta to open doors for local young talent in the European market. He thanked Dolphins, and the Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) for nurturing his talent and helping him to achieve his dream.

His former coach at Dolphins, Shalosh Matsetse explained that Burrows had always been an ambitious and committed player. 

“I first met him when he was playing in the BISA (Botswana Institute of Sports Associations) games. He has always shown great desire to improve and ambition to play abroad,” Matsetse said.

He further said Burrows was one of his best players in the Dolphins team for about three seasons.  BBA technical development manager, Mothusi Thipe said Burrows had gone through all the association’s grassroots development structures. 

“He asked us to assist him to play in a professional league abroad a few years ago, and we arranged for him to go for a training camp in the United States of America, where he trained more intensively,” Thipe said.

He said having a pool of players in the professional set up abroad would help the national team to be more competitive. ENDS