The senior men’s team recently took part in the African Championship in Libya. Despite this being an opportunity for South Africa to go out there and create relationships with other African nations and see how we could learn from them, our national body Basketball South Africa (BSA) missed that opportunity with various blunders along the way… Then there was the Florida State University visit to our shores that went unnoticed, well almost but BSA didn’t cover itself in glory in that scenario either (No proper kit, lack of proper communication).
With BSA being in office for almost a year, there have been a lot of positive to come out of this new regime and other things that have remained the same or gotten worse. With everyone waiting to see what structures and plans that they would put in place to lift the sport from it’s smouldering ashes, I feel that they might have missed an opportunity to engage the various stake holders and get the help that they need.
Anyway I would like to focus on the men national teams that have had a rough time of late. If there is a positive to come out of the new regime, it is the amount of games that the various national teams have participated in. From the U16s competing in Zimbabwe with dignity to our ladies senior team qualifying outright for the African Championship later this year and the Men senior team going to represent the country in Libya.
That’s was quite the busy program for the teams but the thing that BSA didn’t look at is the finer details, it’s all good to say that we are taking part in competitions all over the world but if you don’t take care of how the teams will prepare leading up to such events or how they will get to those events and be treated then they might as well not enter and save everyone the headache involved. This is why I believe that instead of jumping onto all these tournaments, BSA would have been better served making sure that the various structures within the national setup are ready for international competition. I am sure that the players and coaches would have been ok to wait another year without competition if they knew that when it eventually came back it was going to be worth it.SA men’s senior team
“When you send your child to a school outing, you expect that the school will be responsible of their well being, same thing applies with any national team. When we sent these gentleman to represent the country at an international event we expected the federation (in basketball’s case BSA) to look after their well being so that they would only have to worry about events on the court, unfortunately it turned out to be a scandalous rollercoaster for our boys”
While other teams had been preparing for this event for months, the boys got together a week before the tournament and then they were expected to go out there and produce miracles… BSA said that this was due to finances or something along those lines (I did enquire about this via email but couldn’t get official comment on this). The team went to Libya where they were pitted against the hosts Libya, and 2 African powerhouses in Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire who would go on to make the finals against eventual winners Angola.
The experience in Libya wasn’t as rosy as it might have sounded with obstacles on and off the court to put it mildly. When the team sought out some help from BSA officials, they were no where to be found with the usual cellphone being off method the order of the day. Some of the people that made the trip up north said that it was probably one of the worst experiences that they had on tour with a South African team…
Just to give you an idea of what the team had to go through in Libya and please note I got this information from various people (media, spectators, and people that went to the Libya event etc…) so it is true.
Among the degrading experiences that the team had to endure in Libya:
- Team couldn’t get a translator to help them during the tournament, because BSA hadn’t paid the tournament fees.
- How can you have a five day camp for a national team? The minimum team training camp was 3 weeks.
- Coaches ended up being psychologist instead of coaching because the morale was low
- Team had to endure daily evictions threat (due to non payment of competition fees $16000).
- No allowances payment to players, medics, physiotherapist and coaches (Congo the last team in the competition earned R20000)
- All the other eliminated teams figured a way to departed home, Team SA stayed six days (only sleeping and eating), players morale was so low they only watch games from TV even though the match venue was 5 minutes away.
- There was a lack of transparency and communication, BSA had switch of their phones. When the team was nearly thrown in the street the Embassy had to intervene.
- To avoid us running their passports were confiscated (making it even more personal)
- Team could not even go sightseeing, first the federation would not release the bus due to unpaid fees and secondly they didn’t have their travel documents because they had been confiscated (there was road block every way)
- Back home players were dropped at Park station; they could not even pay their way home after that.
Absolutely everyone in that team was broken and degraded somehow.
I have been sitting on this story for a few weeks now while I gathered as much information as possible and despite not getting any comment from the federation, the public needs to know how the team was treated and how they had to battle adversity on their travel to represent South Africa overseas. Let’s hope we learn that these gentlemen are representing a whole nation when they put on the national team jersey and incidents such as these reflect badly on brand South Africa and on the image we are trying to give our sport.
Article by Victor Shakineza
did we expect anything better than that from BSA. i mean we have the whole executive and the board. what are they doing. when are they firing the BSA administrator and themselves? i also heard that the women national team had to suffer the same fate when they were playing FSU. they were checked out at the hotel early, had to sit at the american school, no food was provided, no transport arranged for them after the game at grace bible churh.
what made me laugh was that, FSU had to provide food for the hosts after their game. if that is the treatment the teams are getting on home soil, do you expect BSA to do any better?
what our boys went through is absolutely disgraceful!
I know they really love playing for their country but maybe it’s time all of them pulled a Bafana and sit out in protest on the eve of competitions….
maybe then our so-called leaders will stand up and take note….
funny how this story never made it to the media!
fire whole lot! i remember the fiery discussions about the new BSA committee needing to be given a chance…well, like you said VIc, they missed out on a grand opportunity to silence the skeptics…
Ball is officially dead in SA!
Katlego
i agree with you an all the issues except one. ball is not dead. administratively,yes its dead. we have a dead men walking executive, national administrator, provincial structures and board.
Baller…you right, on the ground it isn’t…
I keep asking…
* Who is in BSA??? Who manages the people in BSA??? Do they even answer to anyone???
* How did they get there…voted in…mominated…who selected…do they even have a b-ball history i.e. former player/coach/team manager/water boy…ANYTHING???
* What criteria/credentials did they have to meet???
* Are there checks and balances for such f&%# ups???
* What is going to be done about what happened…what has happened & what will probably happen should they stay??? OR rather is anything even going to happen???
* Can BSAthey be replaced/dissolved…hell any kind of change @ this rate would be good???
* And honestly what’s with the CONSTANT we have no finances excuse OR that players will miracuously be ready a week before a major event???
The Q and probably no A session could go on for a minute BUT i’ll leave it @ that for now…
@ Baller…i agree…the ppl OR BSA itself needs to go…& managed under a new auspices.
@ Katlego…i don’t think it’s offiicially dead & doubt it will ever completely die cause the love for ball in SA outside of BSA in my opinion is quite strong and steadily growin…BUT yeah you’re right…funny how this story or for the most part any other bball stories never make headlines on the back page of your local / national newspaper…so i guess a major shout out has to go to Victor…Nthabi…Darren and the rest of the My Basketball Team for keeping us constantly updated with the ins and out of bball….ON AND MOST CERTAINLY OFF THE RECORD!!!
Absolutely shocking. Well done on putting the pieces of the story together V.
This is a great pity. I would believe that this team should be amongst BSA’s top priorities. If they are not being looked after then something seriously needs to change. Soon.
I wonder if they will issue an official response, although we know its unlikely. A bit of damage control is required, and a good explanation of what happened and how it will be fixed would be very positive right about now.
Come on BSA, basketball players throughout the country rely on you to steer us. Respond to this and let us all know that you are going to take charge of the matter.
I have said it before and I say it again, WHAT NEW BSA?
As some of the people who are in the current BSA exec were there during the Vusi era and failed to hold Vusi accountable, they do not understand ACCOUNTABILITY.
Some of the Exec members are friends and will therefore not hold each other accountable ie VUT cartel.
The current Exec was elected under suspicious circumstances eg how many of the provincial associations who participated in the elections were in good standing and properly registered.
I do not have confidence in our current Aministrator as he has political skills and is unproven in business management skills. I still maintain that the Administrator position should have been an advertised employment instead of a politically elected position, and should be linked to a perfomance contract.
MORE IMPORTANT
I argued this point numerous times in the FISU debate. We need to forget about ELITE competitions until such time that we are ready administratively and financially.
We need to prioritise school and tertiary basketball as I believe this will be quicker and easier to orgnise.
We need to privatise Elite competitions eg Prosport
EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY
WE ARE ALL TO BLAME FOR THE ABOVE AS WE ARE NOT VIGILANT ENOUGH. WE COMPLAIN RELIGIOUSLY IN THIS FORUM, BUT FAIL TO EXERCISE THIS VIGILANCE IN ENSURING THAT RELEVANT FORUMS FUNCTION PROPERLY.
IT IS ONLY AT THE DISTRICT, PROVINCIAL ASSOCIATION LEVEL THAT WE CAN HOLD BSA EXEC ACCOUNTABLE. HOW MANY OF US ARE PART OF THESE ASSOCIATIONS AND ARE PARTICIPATING VIGOROUSLY?
HOW MANY OF US ARE PREPARED TO SACRIFICE THE PERSONAL BENEFITS TO ENSURE THAT BBALL HAS A FUTURE?
Nuff said fellas, nuff said!! The question now is WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT THE STATUS QUO? We can go on & on about the what we see not going right with our beloved federation but if we cant/wont do anything about it, then this’s just one of the most effective finger exercises which also might complicate to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Well said Joe! I too have mentioned before that school and varsity basketball is the solution. Schools and varsities in South Africa:
1. are seen as prestigious (major support from school mates, communities and media),
2. are where talent can be found and nurtured,
3. are able to cover fincances,
4. makes it easier to find sponserships.
With school and varsity basketball there are so many international formats we could model. The schools and varsity leagues could run during the first half of the year (Feb-Jun with Easter break) with the Finals in July. An amatuer league could be created and run during the second half (July till Dec) with the Finals in January. Just an idea. We got the resources so it can work!
Yesterday I played a pick up game with the SA u17 team. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year. They have so much talent and fire to be world beaters. When they realised that I was the national captain the questions started rolling in about how it was playin for the national team and what should they do to make it into the national team. Somke of the questions I had to avoid because they would feel like whatever they working for is in vain.
Before any decision can be made a lot of consultation and advice has to be entered into. From what I experienced we have one person suggesting things to the committee and the rest just agree not to look stupid.
Im not amazed that the national has not come and defended their actions in Libya. I suggested before going to Libya that if BSA doesnt have money we should rather scrap the tour and focus our already exhausted budget on the ladies and U17 teams. We keep making plans with no money and lie to players that there is money. The U17 Boys and Girls practice in the hot Pretoria sun till noon. Is that because there was no money to pay for indoor courts or did someone forget to book the indoor for them.
Now players are getting calls at 10 oclock at night asking them who told Vic what. Players being threatened with exclusion from the national team. For some of us that would be a easier choice to make because we have been through the lies and maladministration. The article is not fictious as they think or they would like us to think. I had people callin me when we arrived asking me about the passport and money issues.
If the national body needs more time then they should halt all national team commitments and focus on getting their house in order or else we will be in so deep that eventually we will not have anyone playing our sport.
HI THERE
Not a baller , just a proud parent of two kids playing ball and loving it, My eldest son was approached by BSA to represent the SA team in Libiya, we were all very excited. Christopher had gone to the States on a Basketball scholarship so they had to fly him from the States to SA, a week before the time, no planning, no support when they were out there, and too crown it all promises were made to these guys and they still waiting on payment, he of course had to be back in the States to go back to University…………………… question is are they gonna be paid or is this just n other empty promise…………………
BSA committee members need to grow up. am saying this based on what Neo has just said about players receiving calls threatening them about exclusion from the national team blah blah. if they want players to be quite,then get your house in order. we are quick to threaten players and not quick enough to act against irresponsible and non-performing members of the executive and board.
how would you feel as a player going through what the national team went through in Lybia. where was the president and the administrator. guess they were here enjoying their beauty sleep and all that while players representing the country were suffering for all of us in bball.
whoever is calling players with threats, please stop being childish. perform your duties at BSA properly before issuing such threats.
As much as I have belive that this is the good site for basketball people to raise their concerns and the site beind about basketball and more basketball, it has not.Instead the site has turned to be th site where we learn all the ridiculous things that each and every player and administrator has to go through because of BSA incompetent leadership.
I once said and agree with all those who say BSA has never change.The current Vaal mafia who all come from the non-perfoming SASSU Basketball now USSA Basketball lead by Tsepo, Maleka, Dzingwa, Ralethe and Zed who all make the Bopard of BSA will never take this organisation anywhere because they all lack the vision to take it to where we are suppose to be.
1. We have a President who has never been in the provinces to see what is going on on the ground.
2. The National Administrator who happens to be Secretary General of BSA and Chairperson of Gauteng Basketball Association is incompetent.
3. After been sacked from SASCOC, where could Ralethe go to?
4. Maleka and Ralethe are in the FISU committees and yet in our country they are
failing Basketball.
5. The BSA board was never elected fairly.
6. All these people are except for Zed who is a follower have never played or coached basketball. I doubt if they could even teach their kids to bounce a ball.
7. The list goes on…
My biggest problem here is that we are all scared of these guys.We know the people that have and stillbring this game down and yet we still spend time here and write and write for ourselves to read what one is saying. Does this ever reach BSA? What is holding the players and the coaches to take such matters with SASCOC and Sport and Recreation, Sports Portfolio Committee and even the Presidents office. Surely goverment gives money to BSA and they have the right to know how they are running this organisation.
So we sit here and do nothing and these people go out there in the name of basketball and they misrepresent us.Ralethe goes on radio and talk about the BWB which does nothing for basketball inthis country.We all know that this is not their initiative.As mush as it is happening here,I am sure NBA can take it to other countries who take basketball seriously.Perhaps it is here because of the history we haveas a country and the resources…Otherwise???
Secondly,the people in this country who love basketball fear to approach BSA.We tend to protect ourselves because we are scared to voice all the above and the rest.I challenge people before they can further comment to ask themselves if they have anything to loose if they voice their concerns.I am prepared to mobilise people against BSA and even write to FIBA AFRICA and FIBA because I am sure they are not aware of all these problems we are facing.
Neo has said it.We were not ready to goto Lybia.
Yes, the players are being threaten and we know the people who are making these threat and they still representing us. NO!!!
i can bet you now,they are sitting at the hotel because of the BWB.When it is gone,the Q is are going to have the U18 this year?What about the Club Champs?Do you know that the Ladies Club Champs are happening in Zimbabwe and there is no team from SA?What abou the Seniors?
Bottom line is these guys are power hungry.
I am with you Aron! I do not know how we going to do this but I am willing to put my carreer on the line. These people are CRIMINALS because they are robbing our youth from a prosporous future. Basketball should and can still be one of the top sports in this country. In the top three! Aron is right, we need to challenge our provincial structures first. They are sleeping.
It is so sad that in this day and age we have people hungry for power and feeling entitled to positions they cannot manage. If we work together we can turn Basketball around if we have a solid 5 year plan with structures and scaffolds in place to build basketball from the ground up. It is such a pity that many people do not follow this beautiful crime.
The greatest tragedy is that we have lost out on so much over the last ten years in term of development. Many potential greats have never graced our courts. I do not want to see the new talented youngsters turn away from basketball. Our basketball is already heading below mediocrity. Basketball is RECREATIONAL in South Africa. I AM TIRED OF THIS!
Thank you Jason for being the first one. Can all those who those who are interested in seeing change in this game sign up and below by means of message and inform others. Kim,joe,baller,neo and all those who love this game,im sure you will follow.The same people wanted a chance and its been a year and they are failing us.As passengers,let us be responsible and alert everyone of what we stand to loose…
let us participate in our provinces.Vic,can you get us information of all the provinces.
Aron M and Jayson
YOU CAN WRITE TO FIBA, NBA AND WHOEVER IT WILL NOT HELP MUCH. THE ONLY WAY TO FIX BBALL IS TO JOIN THE DISTRICT AND PROVINCIAL AND ASSOCIATE STRUCTURES, AS THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT CAN CALL BSA EXEC TO ACCOUNT
Sometimes I laugh how we waste our ideas by submitting ourselves to countless talk of the same thing over and over and over again.We can say all we want and swear all we want BUT what will be done in fixing the problems we have…ZERO,NADA,NIL.Why?Cos we dont have the power to do anything in our personal capacities.People can shout from the highest mountain that BasketballSA is doing nothing for the basketball community but if I ask that person what are they going to do….the answer will remain ……NOTHING.
People must participate in the democratic/undemocratic processes that happen in their districts/provinces so that they are able to sit and raise what ever issues that they might be having.How many provinces have had their AGM’s?A year has passed since the new board was voted into power but questions are still raised about legitimacy by individuals.The provinces have not done so,that means for me the basketballSA board is legitimate until processes say otherwise.Which provinces are in good standing?Which provinces have fully functional structures that account to clubs etc.
We are playing hide and seek with ourselves peeps.As much as we would want to elevate this website to a POWERFUL tool,it will merely be a information sharing platform regardless of what we think.This will NEVER be an implementation tool for whatever change we think is needed out there.I am sorry to indicate that my planned invade of the BWB has been picked up by the highest office and security will be tightened but I will work ways to get MY point across……WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS?Probably NOTHING.
When was the last time you even held a DISTRICT basketball meeting?Do you even have a DISTRICT EXECUTIVE?Who is your chairperson?Do you even know which district you fall within?If there is any wrong within BasketballSA I officially BLAME ourselves for not wanting to do the hard work so that we are elected and sit on these structures.We rather enjoy speaking some eloquent english on this beautiful website that majority of kids dont have access to.
We are probably worried about the upcoming Under 18,club champs,seniors and we will probably complain about the selection criteria of coaches for the teams.We havent even done anything about the USSA issues.We didnt do anything about the FSU chaos.We will not do anything about the Libya issue NOR will we do anything about ANYTHING thereafter.Until then I wish us all the best in our endeavors…
PS…Vic I told you that I dont want too many bad news in one week,see what you have done now.
Kimathi Toboti(I have a name,why are you hiding yours.)
since the start of the hood, we have been talking about the same things and the monotony is ridiculous. i dont understand how some grown men can allow themselves to be used like this. i dont understand how grown people can allow others to take them for granted like that. that is why the sport won’t grow because we treat it more like a pass time hobby. some of us have realised that we are not getting younger and basketball is an amature sport in SA, we need to move on to what pays the bills and feeds the kids.
TRYING CARVE A CARRER IN BASKEBALL IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS TRYING TO BE A HIPHOP MUSICIAN IN SOUTH AFRICA UNLESS THE TRUE STAKE HOLDERS(THE PARTICIPANT IN BASKETBALL/ MUSICIAN IN HIPHOP) TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY.
HOW DO YOU AGREE TO GO TO LIBYA WITHOUT A CONTRACT? AND IF THERE IS A CONTRACT WHO IS SUPPOSED TO ENFORCE IT SINCE THE AMATURE NATIONAL TEAM PLAYERS DONT HAVE AGENTS? BESIDES THE PAYDONT THE PLAYERS NEED GUARANTEE OF PROPER FACILITIES AND FOOD WHEREVER THEY GO? IT MEANS ONE DAY THE TEAM WILL ONEDAY GO TO BANGLADESH AND NEVER COME BACK COZ AS IT IS THE CAN BE LEFT FOR DEAD….. A NATIONAL TEAM PLAYER GETTING DROPPED AT PARK STATION!!!! I GIVE UP….. UNTIL THE ACTUAL PLAYERS STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES THEN THEY SHUD FORGET ABOUT ANYONE STADING UP FOR THEM….
i used to play and know a lot of people in the national team…
This reminds me of bafana bafana and Nigeria planning boycotts due to pay disputes…….I hope the ladies are listening
Kim, I’m listening but unfortunately as you know I have been dropped from the national team because apparently I am a bad influence on the younger players. I tell them to stand up for themselves. I know too much according to the powers that be.
The players are not protected by anybody. If you talk or raise concerns you get sidelined. I am the living proof. I have given 16 years of my life to SA basketball unconditionally but someone (people) just decided one day that because they have the power and want to exercise it on me just because they can, they eliminated me from the national team without giving me a reason or a hearing.
Funny thing is Neo, from the men’s national team raises his concerns and speaks his mind all the time but he never gets victimized. They never say he’s a bad influence on the players. Is it because I am a woman???? and therefore cannot have an opinion or challenge issues/situations???
Unfortunately that’s how the cookie crumbles around here.
One thing that’s not gonna change is imma keep balling hard and that’s one thing they cannot take away from me. If anything it’s their loss because I have so sooo much to give to SA basketball. We all know dat!!!
I hear all what everyone is saying. Majority of the players have sacrifised everything they had for BSA, and everytime we think n hope that things will get better instead gets worse. Most players have given up the hard work n efford to improve the game jus to have the country reconize that we r also here as a sport. Funny thing is we have been complaining bout what is the federation doing for us, they need to be told to do something or ship out. If they cannot afford to sacrifise for basketball, we dont need them? U cannot hav two jobs n make basketball the third part time job.
let those willing to have it as a priority get down to the job and make it work. First of all we r not protected, secondly we are seen as a recreation sport. Well most of the players whom played international, whom did sports as a profession school wise, whom r looked up to by the upcoming young ones, r currently deciding to call it off on the game.
WHAT DO WE DO TO MAKE THINGS WORK FOR BASKETBALL, COME TOGETHER, TALK ON THE SIDE OR TAKE A STAND AND SAY WHAT WE WANT TO THE SPORTS AND REC GOVERNMENT. WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN COS WE R BASKETBALL.
Emma
‘Is it because I am a woman????’ That statement reminds me of Love and Basketball when Monica stares this gal after a block and she is given a Technical foul and she brings that point across.Well first and foremost,your exclusion from the team is not only disappointing but also ill-timed.The country is supposed to be going for this long awaited appearance at the international stage and we are busy dropping players for bad influencing players.Are we still talking about the SENIOR national team here????.Unfortunately, currently we have ONLY your side of the story but to drop players based on perceptions is so mind boggling.
The decency just to call you and inform you of the decision would be nice but If accusations are leveled at anyone then it is only fair to have a hearing of some sort to address the issue once and for all.How long will we have players being dropped if they disagree with administration?I think they should have just said you have not made the cut and thanx.The last time I remember the Head Coach was your coach whilst in the Western Cape and maybe he would have handled the issue different unless you did not see eye to eye?!?!.You see,you shouldnt have played for Limpopo last year(lol).
The difficulty is that coachs select who they want.We saw Santana leaving out Benni and maybe you are percived as a ‘benni’ in the team but they should have had numerous interactions with yourself to identify the problem,have discussions and then if the issue does not improve then drop you.How they seem to have done it is just too amateurish…….I almost forget that we still ARE an amatuer sport.
I like your spirit though,all those years of sacrifice,dedication and involvement in the sport can not be washed down.We will still remember the years contributed and the years that you WILL still contribute to this game.We wont forget the numerous emails requesting players to go play in the states and the players you have PERSONALLY opened doors in the states They can take away the position from you but they cant take away the game from you.Keep your head up and never let anyone SILENCE you especially if you are standing up for your rights and that of the collective.Now its up to the collective to take a stand for themselves……for now.What happened to this planned Players Association?Eish,this would be a good case for them to take on.
What is being said by Emma reflects back to what Neo said earlier that some of the team members who went to Lybia are being threatened with expulsion. why do we always have to threaten players or expel them from the national team because they raise their voice? unfortunately this will keep on happening. should we victimise our players. shouldn’t we have a forum were this issues are discussed between players, administrators and coaches.
and for the coach, is it not your responsibility to explain to players why they are cut from the team. i mean,here is a player that does not even know why she was cut from the team? like Wilfred Daniels said about Caster Semenya, his conscious could not let him go on after the role he played in the poor athlete saga.
Craig Daniels, do the right thing and explain to the player why she was cut from the team and that should be done to every player that is cut from any national team even school kids want to know why they are cut from teams or are not playing.
I have time to reflect on the various comments on this topic as it is very close to my heart and I think that we as a basketball community need to realise that as long as we don’t know what is going on at grassroots we will never sort out the “mess” happening at the top..
I think that Joe mentioned it a few times and I think that ballers need to start taking part in the structures at district level then provincial level and then at national level otherwise we will keep knocking on the door without any response…
I have decided to see how I can contribute towards making this happen by starting to look at solutions at District level by trying to see what is going on there if anything, then I will move on to Provincial level, etc… I mean I don’t know who GBA is and I have been asking that question for a few months now and no one can really give me a straight answer…
I think that we can all contribute by being proactive and positive that a solution can be found.
ciao,V
Guys I am a South African who lives in the states, it brakes my heart to read such sad news on the net,
its sad but its true, I brag so much to my peers about my country & our development of bball, because I work in the same field here in the states I work for NBA cares, another point I need to bring up is who is responsible for finance in S.A? because I know for a fact that last week BWB was in the country & they donate about $2.5m to SA basketball. my point is, its not the first time they come to the country & what happens with all those funds if our players are still starving?
Im out!!