It was all smiles as teams from seven compounds in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces battled it out at the Woodlands Stadium over the weekend to crown Zambia’s ultimate hood champion.
With bragging rights and a K15,000 cash prize on the line, as well as the opportunity to be seen by the coaches, scouts and agents who were invited to watch the games, Lasa Lasa of Mtendere and Wusakile’s Golden Wolves faced off in a closely contested match which saw fans divided on who to support.
After full-time, neither team broke the deadlock, forcing the match to be decided by penalty shootouts. Lasa Lasa converted their spot kicks excellently despite missing two, while the Copperbelt-based side missed three, giving the Mtendere giants the advantage, who made no mistake in burying their final kick and being crowned the ultimate hood champion.
Saturday and Sunday were a hive of activity, with pure raw Zambian football talent given a platform to shine in the BolaBet Zambia-sponsored grassroots football tournament.
The tournament began on June 22, 2024, in Lusaka’s Bauleni township where BUSA were crowned winners. Each of the seven selected compounds had eight teams competing for a spot as hood representatives at the finale and a K15,000 cash prize.
Musalile were crowned champions in Garden Compound, while 700 Bullets advanced to the finale as the best losers across all compounds. Eventual ultimate winners Lasa Lasa were Mtendere champions and took home an additional K15,000.
In the Kanyama compound, the Kanyama Bulls FC emerged as champions while in Kitwe, losing finalists Golden Wolves, Changa Changa, and Lanshinga were crowned champions of Wusakile, Mulenga, and Kamitondo compounds, respectively.
All participating teams also received free jerseys and footballs from the sponsors.
Bolabet thrilled with successful Bola Yamu Hood tourney
Speaking on behalf of Bolabet Zambia, which invested more than K2.5 million in the grassroots football tournament, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ray Kumwenda said it was a proud moment for the betting brand to see communities come together to celebrate emerging talent.
“As BolaBet Zambia, it was more about giving back to the community as part of our commitment to improving the lives of the youths,” Kumwenda told journalists. “This is just the first and the goal now is to refine everything and come back with a bigger and better tournament.Its a proud moment for us to see that the tournament was a success.”
Kumwenda thanked all the participating teams and fans for embracing and supporting BolaBet’s initiative.
“We want to give a vote of thanks to the teams that participated, the players, coaches, and all the people who’ve been working in the background. And importantly, the fans you’ve seen—the way the turnout has been today—people are cheering on even in the various communities. It shows that our communities love soccer and we are more than proud to have taken it closer to them.”
