Johannesburg. This weekend saw the national wheelchair basketball team visit Sasolburg for the Sasol-NWU Senior Basketball Tournament. The tournament saw 16 local wheelchair basketball teams battle it out for top honours. It also saw the Sasol AmaWheelaBoys thrill when they participated in an exhibition match, taking on NWU VTC and showing off their skills for all those in attendance. The match was followed by a Green vs. Gold game designed to serve as preparation for the 2019 IWBF Africa Paralympic Qualifiers and subsequent 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Sasol AmaWheelaBoys head coach, Lydia Dumond said, “It’s always special for us as a team to be able to visit different areas of the country to grow our sport and to inspire people through wheelchair basketball. This weekend also saw our third Green vs. Gold game for 2018 take place. These games are imperative for us to get time on the court in a semi-competitive environment to ensure we gel as a team come competitive match days. I was pleased to see the level of commitment shown by the players and am confident they will do the country proud in the coming year.”
The Sasol AmaWheelaBoys Green vs. Gold series is made up of 5 games wherein the national squad is divided into two teams who challenge each other during the course of the year. The series provides an incentive for players, seeing the team with the most wins over the year receive a monetary reward. It also provides valuable training time, selection insights for the coaching staff and team preparations for upcoming international events.
Sasol’s Group Brand Marketing Manager Nozipho Mbatha added, “As partners to Wheelchair Basketball South Africa, we were pleased to play a role in this festival of wheelchair basketball in our home town of Sasolburg. This event was immensely valuable, both to shine a spotlight on the sport in an area not often exposed to it and in the continuation of our national team’s preparations for the big challenges ahead of them. Our support of the Sasol AmaWheelaBoys is in line with Sasol’s overall support of people with disabilities. We must however commend WBSA on programmes such as Green vs. Gold, through this, our national side has become a top-class international team with a real chance of achieving big things over the coming period.”
The Sasol AmaWheelaBoys continue their preparations this week with a trip to Durban for Green vs. Gold game 4. To follow the action, follow @amawheelaboys on Twitter.
