Basketball at Stellenbosch University (SU) received a boost with the appointment of two new coaches.
Kimathi Toboti, coach of the SA Senior Women team, and Masibulele Ntlali, coach of the SA U/20 team, joined Maties Sport from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) as coaches of the women's and men's teams.
They are looking forward to a new challenge in a different environment and are excited about the high-performance (HP) aspect of basketball at SU. Basketball received its first boost when it was identified as one of the high-performance sport codes at Maties Sport last year.
"The results Maties have achieved up until now were to a great extent due to potential and talent. The team will benefit greatly from the added high-performance element," said Ntlali.
In 2016, the Maties Basketball men's team finished sixth (out of 16 teams) in its debut USSA tournament and qualified for the Varsity Sports tournament.
Ilhaam Groenewald, Chief Director: Maties Sport, is looking forward to the opportunities and possibilities offered by basketball at SU.
"Our vision is to be strong on all levels. That is why you are here," she told Toboti and Ntlali. "You are part of the change. Coaches are key to the success of any sporting code and we are always looking for new expertise."
Sean Surmon, Head of the High Performance Unit (HP Unit), is very excited about the new developments at basketball and believes that they send a strong message about how serious Maties are about the sport code.
The support structure available to HP sport codes will contribute to basketball's success, said Ntlali.
"We are working on a programme that will change people's lives and that will have an impact on the extended basketball community."
According to Toboti, their aim is to ensure that Maties Basketball becomes one of the best clubs in the country.