Ngezi hopes U18 Championship is a building block to better future Tanzanian team

 

ANTSIRABE (Madagascar) - Tanzania coach Raymond Ngezi hopes his team's participation in FIBA U18 African Women's Championship will provide a symbol of hope for future generations of up on coming young girls in the country.

Speaking on Sunday morning at the Gymnasae Couvert D'Antsirabe after his team's practice Ngezi, who is from Arusha in Tanzania, intimated that exposure to opportunities of this nature will encourage girl children in his country to want more themselves in life.

"Our participation here is about more than basketball. We are sending a message to Tanzanian girls who are watching these games to take inspiration from this moment. I would like to see more girls take up the sport.  Also this is to show girls not only in Tanzania, but all over the world that they can be all they want to in this world," said Ngezi, who is teacher by profession.

The girls in the Tanzanian team are from different walks of life, but a common thread among most of them is that they have faced difficult circumstances. Ngezi painted a picture of young girls who have emerged difficult socio economic conditions and are using the opportunity to play basketball as a way of improving themselves.

"The girls in this team each have a different story to tell. We are from a very small Maasai village. Some the girls are from forced marriages and others come from unimaginable poverty. So when they get on the court and touch that ball, it's a win for them. Their life stories as well, have kept me going," said the Tanzanian coach.

There is also a sporting value that Ngezi hopes his team gains from being here in the island nation. He hopes the girls learn lessons from other countries and  how they play basketball and to build new relationships.

"I think what we want to take away from here is the competitive spirit of other teams. Also we need to build our networks with these other countries, so that we can also learn from them. We want to know why they are good at the game,?" said Ngezi.

Reflecting on the tournament so far Tanzania, they have lost two of their three games. The margin of defeats against Angola (77-39) on Saturday night and Egypt (111-38) Sunday night were quite significant, but what those score-lines did not show was the Tanzanian's desire and heart to remain competitive right till the end in both their Group B games.

Looking back at their first quarter performance against Angola, the East Africans held their own and were down 9-8 in the first quarter and 28-19 by the end of the first half. Ngezi attributes that performance by his team to being ready.

"I think the best part was preparation. Most the girls in the team, I have coached them since they were eight or nine-years-old. So, I think we prepared the girls well and that is what gave us confidence and made us stay in the game," said Ngezi, who pointed out that they need play in more competitions of this nature. "W e do not play enough competitive games and we also do not get much exposure as compared to the big countries. The girls play in leagues but we do have strong leagues in our country,"

Ngezi, who also coaches the Tanzanian U16 team, believes there needs to be an intentional effort to create initiatives that will feed the national team, so that the best talents can be sourced in the future.

"By starting youth programs in the different regions and creating a strong league like the boys have, would be a good starting point. If we give priority, in terms of resources and and exposure, I think we will go far," concluded Ngezi.

FIBA