South Sudan: Manute Bol Peace Builders Basketball Tournament

To mark the occasion, young Sudanese from all regions of the country will compete in a two-day Manute Bol peace builders basketball tournament.

Bol worked hard to make the creation of South Sudan as a country a reality, but he did not live to see the independence of the country. Now, South Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war since December 2013. 

Achuei Chol is the wife of Nicola Bol, brother of the late Manute Bol and one of the tournament organizers. She said both organizers and participants hope the tournament will help bring peace to South Sudan.

“I thought about it because Manute Bol was a peacemaker and because of the situation in South Sudan, I thought this is the time to use Manute’s legacy to unite us together,” she said.

Chol said both boys and girls representing all South Sudanese tribes will be taking part in the tournament.

“I want the young generation to put down the divisions and come together. So I believe that basketball can unite us; it can bring the young generation together,” Chol said.

She described the late Manute Bol as a man of peace who spent his live trying to bring the creation of the new nation of South Sudan.

“Manute Bol was a man of peace. All his life had been committed to his country, working hard for his people. His dream was to bring better life to the people of South Sudan. Manute Bol would like this young generation to have better life, better education, better country, and basketball was one of his dreams.  He put all his money toward this country, and I thought about it and I said let’s be a touch for Manute to follow his footsteps,” Chol said.

Bol played in the NBA for ten years, from 1985–1995, spending parts of four seasons with the Bullets, now the Washington Wizards, the Golden State Warriors, current NBA champions, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Miami Heat.

Chol said she contacted all the teams to contribute to the tournament but only the Golden State Warriors donated T-shirts for the tournament.

“Golden State Warriors is one of Manute Bol’s teams that donated three boxes of their own t-shirts to us. They responded very nice, and we are very happy. We are very happy. We would like for Golden State Warriors to continue to support South Sudanese basketball. We say thank you to Golden State Warriors and to congratulate them for winning the championship after 40 years,” Chol said.