SA 2nd team camp disarray
Once again the powers that be are not sharing with the basketball community. The ladies camp was scheduled to take place in Potchefstroom but at the very last minute the ladies found themselves at Mandeville for their 2nd and last camp before they head to Zimbabwe for their qualifiers. Most of the players were still under the impression that the camp would be held in Potchefstroom until they were contacted a day or even on the day they were scheduled to meet. The ladies camp is progressing smoothly and the ladies are working hard to make sure that they qualify for the main event in Lybia.
As far as the men’s 2nd camp goes, it was supposed to start today Wednesday 4 March 2009, but the correspondence the players and coaches got was that it was cancelled indefinitely. What does that mean? It makes me wonder, does it mean that all the good work of the 1st camp will go to waste and the team will head into the qualifiers in Mozambique with only one camp behind them? I know for sure that other African teams are busy preparing hard for these particular qualifiers. I have also heard that some of the players from the 1st camp are pulling out due to work commitment and I won’t be surprised if there are more withdrawals after this late cancellation of the camp by BSA. Let’s hope that this setback doesn’t demoralize the players and coaching staff and that BSA gives us a relevant explanation in due time.
Mybasketball was informed in due time regarding the 1st camp held at the High Performance Center (HPC) in Pretoria in February but there was no media advisory sent out for the 2nd ladies camp that is currently taking place at Mandeville or about the cancellation of the men’s camp. BSA have blundered by not giving anyone a valid reason for the cancellation of the men’s camp and by not informing the players, coaches and other interested parties in due time.
Article by Victor Shakineza
Vic
i didn’t expect anything better from BSA. failure and disorganisation is their middle name. well done BSA. keep it up.
Luckily from a player’s point of view I can say that we know what we expecting and we know what we need to do. Most of the players are hungry to go represent the nation and I dont think that anyone can change that, not even bad administration.
The guys in CT are working hard and the fellows in Dbn are also pulling their weight so there is no turning back. Administration or lack of administration we will qualify even if we have walk to Mozambique, Q and I will give directions to Maputo.
You either go hard or you go HOME.
LETS GO AND WIN SA!!!
Im glad the ladies took the bad conditions in their stride and focusing on the bigger picture. If you know any of the girls on the national squad give them a call or sms wishing them luck,
well,i know that our players are committed to the course. no wonder all of you guys sacrifice your work and studies for basketball. personally,having looked at the teams list for the girls published here, i sure know that they going to win in zimbabwe and with the guys i expect the same in mozambique. Neo, don’t you have a big bag to fit me in when you going to Moz. i’ll bring my vuvuzela. atleast it’ll make enough noise during the S.A games.
viva lybia viva..
The one thing we cant do is underestimate Mozambique in the zone 6 last year they beat the Angolans in the ladies devision and the men just lost to Angola in the finals. Mozambique were up by 8 at the start of the 4th.
Another thing is the crowd in Mozam man its like 3000 people watching the game.
What time are the practise session for the ladies and when is the camp ending?
Joe
The ladies are FLYING tomorrow morning, as for their practice schedule well I don know. I spoke to one of the ladies and they said that were forced off the court by the social club that ussually trains at Mandeville. the ladies had a practice match vs UJ 2nd team and before the end of the third quater the team just came in and started shooting while the ladies were playing. The reason they gave was that they have been playing at Mandeville for years and their team takes top priority to the national team.
More important than the national team? I bet you my car that if it was the wheelchair national team they would even brought them drinks. In fact, to put it bluntly if the national team was WHITE they would not have had a problem.
Transformation! Transformation! (Lol)
Dear Joe,
i dont think colour or physical inability has anything to do with it – it is the total incapability of BSA to organise anything properly!
Come on now, no matter how enthusiastic we are and no matter how good the individuals/team is we still need a camp to make a team work. For the coach to make sure the players on the court gel and know their role. For now its not looking to good for SA. Mozambique are ready, they had a competitive league last year and the players are well taken care of. At the rate we are going, I’ll be the first to say it – I do not think we are going to qualify. You can talk about walking to Mozambique and putting it out there for you’re country but at the end of the day you need practise. No camps, No African Champs. I’ll give you an example. The US team that came 3rd in the Olympics before last. All the talent but not enough practise and chemistry. Good luck to SA though.
Just a thought
Capping on what Neo suggested earlier would it hurt to send out names of all those wishing the Ladies national team well in a sort of pertition? ie.
1.Kweku
2. Neo
3. Joe etc
And Vic can do the honours of letting them know that they have the ball nations support behind them.
What are the flight detailsm, maybe I can make a turn?
Neo and Kweku: I like your positive ideas and Joe, good idea about going to the airport to see them off…
Joe, before making this some sort of preferencial treatment issue or racial one as you suggest, maybe we should find out if BSA booked the venue and if they didnt maybe that’s where the confusion came in.
Go South Africa.. do us proud..
When are the games in Moz? I am considering going to watch the finals when SA men take on Moz lol.
Another thing, we are busy with the final stages of Grace Bible Church Sports Arena fittings, there is an aleternative practice venue. I am sure a B&B in soweto will be willing to give preferential rates for the national team!
All in support!
C
For me people its not a matter of whether BSA booked the court or not, its the manor in which they dismissed the team. Apparently they asked the other for an extra five minutes to play on the court so they can finish the 3rd quater but they refused and carried on shooting. There students and school kids watching that game, how ambarrasing is that?
Anyway there will always be people in SA who were involved in basketball back in the day and they want to show that basketball will grow without their knowledge. Well they have another thing coming, we survived all tribulations, a couple of old people will not deter us from the big picture.
Interested
I maintain that if the team was White,it would not have mattered if they booked or not. Imagine boys from Affies chasing the Rugby national team from their school grounds because they dd not book! Exactly, it will never happen.
Bballers
After all that Ball has been thru and some crazy fools think that they can push us down….hahahaha……keeping wishing.Basketball is like a hungry school kid who keeps walking to school and eventually becomes the first black kid to own a Power Station.I talked to a couple of the gals and the spirits are TOO high and I wish them all the best.
Seeing that we were not able to organise any support for the gals in time due to ideas not coming up in time.Is it possible that we can get the actually dates for the Moz games and then after that we can try and see how we can go and support the team.Lets look at the cheapest way in which we can get to Moz.I think it would be much cheaper than getting a bus.
I know a coupe of people who would be willing to take the trip and avail their cars.Any of the guys know the distance from jozi to Moz?Lets put this into action ballers.
MZANSI 4 LIFE….
Anyone know when the final game of the ladies will be played so we can see who can be available to go.
I decided to phone the powers that be and this is the low down…
Ladies last games are on Sauturday and this Sunday against Zim.I dont know if there people who will be available last minute.
The guys will be playing 28th till the 4th and they play Moz on the 4th.That gives us time to organise some support.
The distance is about R650 which is more or else a full tank(depending on the car and speed of course).That will be approximately R350 pp going to and from Moz.It will be great if we can get about 20 people atleast to attend..
650km not R650…my bad
Greyhound is R 500.00 return, I remember when we went to Moz in ’05 and we played Moz in the final. The stadium was packed with Mozambicans and very loud. Before the game started I was nervous wreck and I was the rookie captain, you can imagine. After the warm up and tried collecting whatever thoughts I had, I Rammy, Mkhasibe, Dali and two other guys in the stands just behind our bench, that was the best moment of the night, after beating Moz, in Moz for the first time.
accomodation in Moz is also very affordable and besides after we beat Moz and qualify for the Nations cup no one will be sleeping that night…
I notice my response to Joe’s remarks was deleted yesterday – is this forum just for a few individuals to express their views?
Damn right no one will be sleeping that night…..
The orange juice will be on me for the night.LOL
Its so refreshing to hear everybody so positive amidst all this uncertainty! 2 me it’s clear that the bigger picture is not obscured to any1!
Lets go SA, lets go!!!
….1 2 3 S. A!!!!!