PHOENIX (Mauritius) - Mauritius may have fallen short of reaching the Global Challenges, but their experience at the African Qualifiers of the FIBA U17 Skills Challenges 2020 is proving invaluable. 

So much so that this has set a new trend for training and development and the Mauritius Basketball Federation (MBBF) is adamant that this is the way to promote basketball around the island.

Mauritius last week saw their FIBA U17 Skill Challenge Women's Qualifiers end in the Semi-Finals after a 185-159 defeat to Tunisia.

Yet, it was an experience for the ages for the islanders, who last entered a continental event when they hosted the FIBA U16 African Championship in 2017.

Back then, the hosts claimed the eighth and last place, losing to continental powerhouses like Mali, Mozambique and Tunisia.

Since then, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has set up basketball training facilities and recruited Serbian Ivan Smiljanic as Technical Director to promote and develop the sport across the island.

The 10  boys and girls who competed in the FIBA U17 Skill Challenges all emerged from these training facilities.

"We had a round of qualifiers on our own so to have the best candidates for the FIBA U17 Skill Challenge. These names, among others, came from this, and we now have a database of players with whom we can work with in the future," Smiljanic recounts.

For the past two years, he has been going around the island, helping educators and coaches set up their training and development process.

Now, with results that can be noted as excellent - the islanders' women's team clinching a Semi-Final spot - the Serbian looks forward to the next step.

His plans include the launching of the very first junior league in Mauritius, due this coming September. This tournament was due earlier this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a halt to the plans.

Speaking of the importance of the junior league, Smiljanic admits that he plans to use the Skill Challenge as entry test to the federal training facilities from now on.

"It's a good test for the youngsters. The coaches and me, who will be acting as an advisor, will be able to spot who's got talent and who's got basic skills. What we need is to spark that interest," he says.

Since they last featured in a FIBA Africa event, Mauritius have not yet gone back to continental competitions. But Smiljanic is thinking about giving it a go: "I think that training and competition work in tandem. The players need training to be able to compete and competition so as to know where they failed and what they are good at."

He therefore wants to go to the bigger picture. Even though Mauritius' return to Africa is not at the top of the agenda, the trip to the continent is due.

"We cannot expect any progress without competition but we must be sure we can at least give the best countries a good run," he adds.

Coaches are not to be left out of the Technical Director's plans. For the past year, he has been assessing a dozen or so coaches, who come from local teams, in an attempt to level up. "I know they put what they learnt into practice. This was seen during the play-offs where the level was higher than what we usually see," he said.

Smiljanic wishes to include former national team players in the coaching staff for the next few years. "Some already have the basic knowledge for coaching. What we need now is to organize the pool of basketball players. We're talking about the next generation of players for Mauritius."

FIBA