All African basketball comes to UCT THE 5th All African Basketball Tournament was held at the UCT Sports Centre last Friday. Ten teams from all over the continent matched up, five of which were from the East African Society (Easoc) and the others included Team USA, Zimbabwe, Angola, the West African Team and the African Team. The tournament was sponsored by Champion sporting equipment and Vitamin H2O, and was themed “The Chosen One” in an attempt to search for the best African player at the tournament – this search was performed through an entertaining half-time Slam Dunk competition, as well as a 3-pointer Shootout. Some enthralling matches took place over the three groups that the teams were divided in to, and the opinions of a few players were captured before the first group stage games were underway. When asked which team was the most likely threat in the competition, a player from Easoc E, Edwin, told VARSITY, “The team from Angola has the reputation of being the best at this tournament, and so every team will most likely be keeping an eye on them.” Another player from the Easoc C team, Daniel, was also asked what message the tournament sends to the basketball fans and community, and he stated, “It helps everyone come together,
Photo by Dominic Verwey
Dominic Verwey
Shooting hoops - Players at the tournament battled it out to try and decide who was Africa’s next big thing. forget their troubles in life, and enjoy themselves”. Evidently, the unity of the tournament was very much a follow on from last year’s tournament, which was themed “The Fight against Xenophobia”. One match of the group stages
stood out from the rest, where the African Team took on Team USA in quite a rough and competitive affair. Both teams played great basketball and, at times, somewhat over-enthusiastically, with plenty of fouls going against both
Cycling for knowledge Zerene Haddad
Silverman said that they intend to document their trip by “journaling, videotaping, blogging on our website, and Twittering. Feel free to check out our Twitter feed and blog as well as the Facebook page.” There is also a website they’ve set up: www.cycleforunderstanding. blogspot.com. Bodansky hopes to compile the footage into a documentary upon their return. “There has been a great deal of excitement among people back home about our adventure as well… We will also be bringing a satellite phone, so when important events occur we can call in to other members of our organisation and have them link the stories to our website.” You can follow the 2x2 at: www.twitter.com/2x2Bikeride Photo by Simone Millward
TWO UCT American exchange students are taking to their bikes in June in an attempt to disprove the perceived stereotypical image Americans have of Africa. Eric Silverman and Aaron Bodansky are currently part of the IAPO semester abroad programme and will finish off their stay by cycling from Cape Town to Nairobi. They have dubbed it the “2x2: Cycle for Understanding.” Bodansky explains how the idea was conceived: “My goal was initially to get to Kenya after I finished studying at UCT in June in order to meet up with a Masai man I have been in contact with. I took Swahili classes back at my home university and wanted to live in an interesting, Swahili speaking
environment. My first plan was to take a motorbike from here to Kenya, but everyone I told the plan to from home always told me I was crazy, and would get killed in Africa. This frustrated me, and caused me to realize the extent of the prejudice that the Western world has surrounding Africa. They think it is all a lawless, violent place where you will get killed quickly if you are white. After discussing the situation with my friend, Eric, we decided we both wanted to prove these prejudices wrong.” The intrepid adventurers will leave Cape Town after the June exams, and travel through Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. They hope to arrive in Kenya by 15 August after completing the 4200 km journey.
takING ON AFRICa - Eric Silverman (left) and Aaron Bodansky (right) are heading off to Kenya by bike
teams and the game being halted by the referee’s whistle on many occasion. Team USA ran out eventual winners by 32 points to the African Team’s 28 points. A player from the African Team, Kizer, told VARSITY that with all the calls
being blown during the game, “it was frustrating. We didn’t want to come to the competition and have an aggressive match. We want to have fun, but it turned out to be a bit more competitive than we expected.” He went on to say that “[We are] a team with players from all over Africa. Having a team that is so diverse sends a message that this tournament is not a South African tournament, but an inclusive event with players from all over the entire continent – showing that this event emphasises unity.” From the group stages, four teams advanced, and the semifinals had Team USA pair up against Zimbabwe, and Easoc D playing against West Africa. Team USA easily overcame the challenge from Zimbabwe with a 3426 win, and Easoc D did the same with a 38-22 win against West Africa. The final was played in good spirit and it was evenly matched for the first half of the game, but Team USA displayed their dominance for the second half and won the match with 30 points to Easoc D with 22 points. The tournament was well supported and plenty of African talent was on show. On that note, everyone is encouraged to look out for upcoming games being played by the UCT 1st Basketball Team.
Stormer blues Taru Madangombe THE STORMERS seem to be having some serious issues in their camp. The team looked good on paper at the start of the season, but is showing only a shadow of this potential on the grass. They have really looked outof-sorts in recent games and one wonders if they are sticking to their game plan. This reminds one of a statement by Geoff Cook in 1995, after England was beaten by New Zealand in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Cook said, “I don’t know about us not having a Plan B when things went wrong, we looked like we didn’t even have a Plan A.” Who should take the blame? Are the players not performing? Is the coach not guiding his charges? Is it the Western Province management and leadership? Or, is the Luke Watson “effect” contributing to all this mess? One wonders why the game’s antiques, the likes of AJ Venter, Wylie Human and Willem de Waal, are still being considered for selection ahead of the exciting young players in the Cape. I think we should learn to admit when players have reached their sellby-date and let the fresh legs take over. Even the legendary Pieter De Villiers knew when it was right to call it quits, saying before his retirement, “When you’re down on the ground and you start thinking about your wife and children it means it’s time to stop.” Even closer to home, the UCT Ikeys have started their
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Western Province Super A League season on a high with their 29 - 8 away victory over Durbell. So far, the Ikeys have played three games, winning two and losing one to the Victorians. After their disappointing semi-final exit in the 2009 FNB Varsity Cup, they have been bolstered by the return of seasoned stalwarts like Vakai “Fish” Hove, Herbie Mayosi, Bodo “The Door” Sieber, Tim Whitehead, Dave Clayton and Craig Klue.
“... Tiger Bax and the hard-driving lock Martin Muller, were included in the Stormers’ squad...” It is good to see the fruits of Dobbo’s hard work blossoming, as two exciting Ikeys, the superlative back Tiger Bax and the harddriving lock Martin Muller, were included in the Stormers’ squad for the game against the Chiefs on 2 May at Newlands Stadium. The boys managed to get some game time. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a couple of exciting careers in Super Rugby. Congrats!