Fort Hare basketball coach Thembekile Blaai has complete faith that the team he has selected for the USSA 5×5 championship can get the job done in Stellenbosch next week.
“I have a lot of ladies to choose from. I’ve seen them at the club champs and in the league and these are the women I will take to war,” he said.
“They are ready to fight for the badge.”
Fort Hare have set their sights on winning gold or, at the very least, a silver medal. Aside the prestige these accolades carry, finishing in the top two of the B-Section will guarantee their spot in the top tier next year.
They did not have the best of outings at the 2023 University Sports South Africa tournament, finishing outside the podium places. But this year would be different, Blaai promised.
The team’s preparations already filled him with confidence.
“There is only 10 per cent I need to work on and I will get that 10 per cent before we leave. What I am looking for I am getting. They have the fighting spirit, the desire to win.”
This is especially true of the senior players, who will compete in their last USSAs before graduating.
Fort Hare’s Sinenhlanhla Makhoba will be a key figure for her side as they bid to gain promotion to the A-section of next year’s USSA 5×5 basketball championships. Photo: Full Stop Communications
The squad of 10 going to the Cape Winelands have been put through their paces at a two-week training camp, where the first seven days were spent on fitness and strength work.
“We did a lot of running in the first week. The ladies had just come off exams and were chilling a bit, so we needed to get our fitness levels up. Playing A and B-Section of the USSAs is tough.”
In the second week, they transferred their focus to on-court skills and strategies.
There were two sessions a day; one where attention is paid to individual play and the other to build chemistry within the team.
The format of the 5x5s is such that there are no playoffs and final. The equation is simple: the team who win the most games win the section.
The Eastern Cape side will be captained by Asemahle Mani, who has a reputation for leading by example and will no doubt be on it in Matieland as well.
Competition starts on Monday and Fort Hare will get straight into the action with a double-header.
They play UFS at 8am and UCT at 2pm – a tough ask, but a challenge the ladies are relishing.
The next day they come up against DUT at 2pm, followed by another double-header on Wednesday.
UWC will present stern opposition in the 8am fixture but Fort Hare will give themselves good odds of putting one over provincial rivals Rhodes in the 2pm game.
Their final clash is against UKZN at 9.30am on Thursday.