South Africa's basketball community

Getting to know: Manyani Maseko

By on August 19, 2009 in Profiles

“Getting to know…” is a series where we’re highlighting some of our awesome SA basketball players and fans from our community on The Hood. Here you can learn a little more about those people who love the game as much as you do.

ManyaniName
Manyani Maseko

Profile name on The ‘Hood
Manyani

My team
WITS and Braamfontein Blues

Keep believing and playing the game because…
Ball because you want to ball…not cause you have to…learn to love the game and only then will you improve.

Join a school…join a club…work on your own game…and ALWAYS remember to bring it cause…WE BALLING BABY…ALL DAY EVERYDAY!!!

What I would focus on to grow the game of basketball in South Africa
First and foremost!!! Management (i.e. BSA) should be looked at because right now it sucks. I think that everyone that is currently involved in BSA needs to ‘bounce’!!! I mean who does BSA consist of…most ballers don’t even know…all we know is that they aren’t doing what their supposed to be doing!!!

It’s sad to see that basketball seems to be growing and developing in every aspect i.e. grassroots…school…varsity…and even post education level BUT not much seems to be happening at the top. Therefore, I believe that BSA should be entirely scrapped and FRESH…NEW…DEDICATED faces should be voted in OR even an entire new body all together should be formed where people are held ACCOUNTABLE for their f#&^ ups!!! Because it seems like the only people bringing it are dedicated players and coaches…hell even the fans outdo BSA any day!!!

Developing basketball may take many forms and shapes –
•       Finding sponsors who actually
believe in the game and it’s potential for growth.
•       Promoting basketball across all media forms i.e. television…radio…papers…the net…and WORD OF MOUTH!!!
•       Developing more leagues post highschool / tertiary…maybe even a national league like the former CBL because smaller communities suffer…also try and establish a professional league (BUT not under the auspices of  PBL!!!)
•       Finding more dedicated referees / table officials / hell anyone who wants to lend a helping hand to Basketball Development in WHATEVER sense.
•       Conducting fair trials – unlike that UJ / Wembley crap they pulled last year (check out my article on “the hood”).
•       Treating girls and guys the same on court.
•       Building more free and accessible courts.
•       Investing in more clinics for everyone i.e. coaches…referees… table officials…players…HELL anyone who is involved!!!
•       And lastly, hosting more events in all areas to pump the sport.

Just a few ideas…I’m sure I could think of more.

The best advice I ever got about playing the game
You win some and you lose some!!!

Why I love basketball
I LOVE everything there is to LOVE about Basketball… it’s a whole lot of fun (well minus the constant suicides and shuffles) and a major stress reliever…

It REALLY is one of the bests sports ever created. It’s what I look forward to at the end of every week…the game itself (the good and the bad)…the unbelievable stunts people pull on court (of courts stunts I can only ever dream of…lol)…the ppl (the friendly and not so friendly)…all the wins (ain’t gonna say jack ’bout he losses)…the excitement…the entertainment…the intensity…the rush…and the fact that there’s tons of action…

Sometimes I feel like I live for basketball…like it’s ingrained in me somewhere…all my friends OR as I like to call them family are ballers…

Hey…what more could I ask for??? Basketball is it for me…IT’S MY LIFE…I AM BASKETBALL and BASKETBALL IS ME!!!

Head over to The ‘Hood and connect with Manyani.

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