THE Limpopo Basketball Association (LBA) will use its annual Women's Day tournament to select provincial teams for the national championships.

The tournament will be held at the refurbished Giyani sports grounds on August 9.

LBA's vice chairperson Mike Ralethe said they had resolved to change the women-only tournament to also involve men because both female and male teams will be selected on the day.

Ralethe said some of the current national team players - Phuti Mosehlane and Sophy Ngobeni who will be playing for Mahwelereng Vampires, while Raquel Molema will feature for Seshego Sonics and Vumani Marhamele for Nkowankowa Shooting Stars - will feature for their respective clubs.

The five members of the senior national women's team will have the chance to fine-tune their skills for the African Nations Women's Cup in October in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

"The selection will be done four months before the national championships that are scheduled for December," said Ralethe. "This is to ensure that players get enough time to play together and be ready for the tournament," said Ralethe who is also a respected medical doctor in Limpopo.

"We are excited because all the three universities in the province, University of Venda, University of Limpopo and Tshwane University of Technology, will be part of the selections," he said.

Other clubs that will be part of the tournament are Lenyenye Heat, Koloti Nicks, Mankweng Dynamites, Polokwane Tigers, Moshate Shooters, Belabela Vikings, Turfloop Bull Dogs and Giyani Vikings.