Basketball players shoot for champs
Two Hout Bay basketball players have been selected to form part of a training squad for possible selection to compete in an international tournament later this year.
The under-18 national selection camp for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) U18 African Championship will take place in Johannesburg from Friday March 22 to Sunday March 24.
The championship will be held from July to September this year while the host countries will be announced next month, according to FIBA’s press release on the tournament.
Zade Keeton, 17, and Junior Cloete, 18, play for Hout Bay Snipers, which, according to the club’s chairman, Bryan Mbulawa, was founded in 2014 to promote unity and sportsmanship among the community’s youth.
Last year, Junior and Zade were selected to be part of the under-18 selection camp.
Mr Mbulawa said the two players had excelled at the national champs last year in Bloemfontein, helping to give the province third spot behind KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Zade, a matric pupil at SACS, was 13 when he found his passion for basketball.
“I'd been interested in basketball before, but I'd never played seriously. I went to a basketball camp in America a few years ago, which was extremely difficult. I was by far the worst player there, but that was what motivated me to get better and pursue basketball as a passion.
“I then began practising regularly in my first year of high school because that was the first time I had the opportunity to play organised, team basketball.”
He would spend weekends searching Cape Town for free, public basketball courts where he could practise.
“I’ve also taken part in multiple school basketball tournaments, notably the Wynberg Basketball Tournament last year, where my school won the tournament, and I won the ‘most valuable player’ award.”
He said he felt “very proud and grateful” to have been selected for the training squad.
Junior, a Grade 11 Hout Bay High pupil, was attracted to basketball after seeing it played at a local park.
“I stood there and I just asked if I could join, and the coach said fall in. I did everything they did, and I’ve been addicted to the game since the age of 7.”
The sport, said Junior, had also offered him an escape from being bullied as well from the grief he had felt following the death of his grandfather.
He has fond memories of being selected to play for the province and now for the squad.
“I told myself I'm going to get out there and play my heart out. I felt so proud of myself after making the training squad for SA. Now I get the chance to hopefully represent my country.”
