BBA turns to northwest for taller basketball players
Dumisani Ncube | Wednesday January 13, 2016 14:29
A group of development coaches will be engaged to travel to Kasane, Maun and Shakawe where they will scout for players that will represent the country at the Youth Olympic games in 2020. The scouting starts on February 21.
BBA technical director, Mothusi Thipe stated that four development coaches, Ketlwaelo Rahube, Tirafalo Matsetse, Kago Gagobepe and Pelonomi Maruza will spend seven days in each of the three places scouting for players.
The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) is assisting the BBA with the scouting programme.
“We are in the process of building an Under 20 team for the Youth Olympics in 2020,” Thipe said.
The four coaches will also work closely with coaches from the three regions as a way of developing the sport.
He said they specifically chose the three regions due to the height of the players in those places, which is what Botswana basketball needs. “Players from those regions are quite tall and they will be useful in basketball,” he said.
Both boys and girls aged between 13 and 14 years will be targeted.
Last year, the country hosted the Under 16 Afro Basketball qualifiers. The boys and girls national teams performed dismally and the coaches blamed the failure on poor preparations for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Thipe stated that the Under 18 and Under 20 girls and boys teams will go into camp in March in preparation for the Afro Basketball tournament scheduled for May.
“During the Botswana Games last year, 40 players for both boys and girls were selected. The squad will be trimmed to 12 players in each section after the camp.”