By Ernest Bigoro Ndayisa
Team 257 Maine-USA Meets FBM (Fraternité Burundaise de Montréal)
Team 257’s name comes from Burundi’s international dialing code, and at the start of its highly anticipated match with the Montréal-based team FBM on May 17 in Portland, players and spectators alike joined in a stirring rendition of the national anthem of Burundi – “Burundi Bwacu!” – a sign that Burundians living in the U.S. and Canada have not forgotten their origins.
The game was played at the Riverton Community Center Court, and the final score was 74 to 52 in favor of Team 257 Maine-USA. The team had previously lost two consecutive matches in Canada against FBM.
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After the match, Amjambo Africa spoke with Fabrice Batungwanayo, the coach of Team 257. The match was a great opportunity to strengthen the friendship with Burundians living in Montréal, he said, and it was also a relaxing weekend activity – especially for the Montréal-based team who got the chance to enjoy a long weekend in Maine
The coach emphasized that the match was also a way to inspire and motivate young people living in Maine to take an interest in basketball, and said the Burundian diaspora can help support the development of basketball teams in Burundi by contributing to them financially.
Delicia Nineza, a member of Team 257’s organizing committee, agreed that engaging young people in the sport is a team priority. Basketball is a path to helping new immigrants integrate, and helps people maintain physical and mental health, she said. She would like to see young people engage more in physical gatherings to avoid excessive screen time on phones and video games, which promotes laziness, she said. She also regretted that few Burundian girls in Maine are interested in basketball.
Axel Irakoze, current Team 257 president, told Amjambo that in 2016, Team 257 showcased their talents by winning the inter-state cup, a basketball tournament organized by Burundians in the U.S. that brings together teams from different U.S. states. Previous matches between Team 257 and Canada were played in 2022 and 2023. He expressed disappointment that the team would not be participating in this summer’s upcoming international tournament in Switzerland due to a lack of training time for the team. But he’s pleased that young people – especially high school and college students – continue to join the team, a sign that Team 257 has a bright future ahead.
After the game, during a reception at the Veteran’s Place in Portland, Amjambo Africa spoke with Dima Siméon, the president of FBM. He said a great outcome of the basketball rematch with Team 257 was strengthening ties between Burundians in Montréal and those in Maine.
Although disappointed that the Montréal team didn’t win this time, Siméon said that was understandable – beating a home team that’s well-prepared isn’t easy. He regretted that some of FBM’s best players couldn’t travel due to lack of travel documents, a constraint Team 257 also faced when they went to play in Montréal.
For Siméon, basketball is a great way for people to meet, help each other, and support each other socially, while staying physically and mentally healthy – and, most importantly, preventing youth from falling into delinquency. He added that playing basketball in the U.S. is a dream for young people around the world, and Burundian youth in the U.S. are in a great position to live that dream.
Siméon’s own dream is to prepare young Burundians to become international players, a project that is underway, with talented Burundian basketball players already playing at the collegiate level in the U.S. A current challenge in Burundi is a lack of certified international trainers, he said. But one day, Siméon hopes, the place of Burundi on the international basketball stage will be secured, and the country won’t have to recruit basketball players from abroad any longer – instead, it will be supplying them.
