Following their triumph at the Eastern Cape club championships, Fort Hare’s women will tip off against the crème de la crème of South Africa’s basketball players this week.
They qualified for the national competition in Johannesburg, which takes place from August 20 to 23, when they lifted the provincial club title in Makhanda in July.
That win marked a terrific comeback for the team from Alice following their early exit from the 2023 champs.
In this year’s tournament, their clash against hosts and great rivals Rhodes University became a do-or-die affair in the battle to secure the remaining slot in the final.
Fort Hare showed their customary can-do spirit as they ran out 24-17 winners to secure their place among the final two alongside a strong Walter Sisulu outfit.
UFH knew that only their A-game would do against their Eastern Cape neighbours and did not disappoint their supporters, nor their coach, in securing a comfortable 35-22 victory.
With that, the trophy was theirs and a spot at the nationals booked.
Long-time coach Thembekile Blaai was delighted that his side could put last year’s disappointment in the City of Saints behind them. On that occasion, they simply ran out of steam and their opponents were only too happy to capitalise on their misfortune.
Fort Hare forward Sinokholo Dyonase will be a key player at the national basketball club championships in Johannesburg this week. Photo: Full Stop Communications
It was a tough lesson to learn but easy one to rectify ahead of last month’s do-over as Blaai whipped his charges into tournament-winning shape.
“During our morning training sessions, we focused only on fitness. I made it clear that we needed to win everything. They had to give it their all.
“Fortunately, everything worked out for us on the day.”
With the fitness box well and truly ticked, Blaai turned his attention to the team’s mental stamina as he was wise to the fact that competing in a national environment could be an emotional roller-coaster.
The team arrives on the Highveld as underdogs, mainly because the players typically only get introduced to the sport at tertiary level whereas the clubs from larger centres can pick and choose from athletes who have grown up shooting hoops.
“As much as we don’t have the resources of the bigger teams, we can use our spirit to beat them. We have worked hard and deserve to be there,” Blaai said on the eve of their departure.
“I tell them that they should not underestimate themselves; that they are capable of competing.”
Being unfancied was a strength in disguise rather than an assumed weakness, the team’s mentor believed.
To fact that some of the top clubs from Joburg and Cape Town assume that they will be a walkover is to their advantage.
“That is enough to motivate them,” Blaai, who noted that women’s sport was putting Fort Hare on the map, said.
The Baby Blues won the latest instalment of the FNB Varsity Cup while the footballers are impressing all and sundry in their debut season in the Hollywoodbets Super League.
Blaai’s basketball brigade now have a golden opportunity to turn over the same page to further cement the university’s status as a breeding ground for elite sportswomen.