The current state of national basketball, for both sexes, has worried those who play the sport, due to the loss of quality in the training levels. The agents interviewed by this newspaper demand changes at all levels so that Angola can return to the top of the sport
Basketball served as a tool for Angolans to free themselves from the “binds” of the Portuguese colonist in the 1970s.
Although the colonial war caused many human losses, the work that was done at the training levels never decreased significantly.
Even following the achievement of National Independence in 1975, the scarcity of funds due to the economic situation at the time was never a topic of discussion by the sport’s creators, since the love of the sport was the dominant note.
This fact allowed Angolans to stand out internationally, winning eleven Afrobasket titles, with Jean Jacques da Conceição, Gustavo da Conceição, Paulo Macedo, and a younger generation, years later, with Miguel Lutonda, Armando Costa, Aníbal Moreira, Olímpio Cipriano , Milton Barros, Carlos Almeida and others.
At the hands of Mário Palma, Vitorino Cunha and Valdemiro Romero they became the great references of basketball on the continent.
However, the love that most of the training coaches had at the time for the sport collapsed, having contributed to the fact that the senior men’s National Team had ceased to be a power on the African continent, as the youth levels served as fuel for the selection of seniors.
Meanwhile, this newspaper heard coaches from the training classes who considered the lack of investment and incentive as factors that contributed to the loss of hegemony of the national team on the «cradle continent».
Carlos Dinis says that more athletes should compete abroad
The helmsman of Atlético Sport Aviação (ASA), Carlos Dinis, highlighted to this newspaper that the work carried out in the training categories has lost quality due to the lack of investment from the clubs.
The director highlighted that grassroots basketball has been forgotten by clubs, as athletes, especially those aged 10 to 18, have been training in precarious conditions.
The coach understands that the teams have not adequately fulfilled the role of investing in the training levels, putting the development of the sport at risk.
Carlos Dinis also mentioned that the lack of financial incentives for coaches has also influenced the decline in the quality of work carried out in the training categories.
The former basketball player highlighted that some clubs have only worked with one or two tables, which has significantly affected the evolution of athletes.
“How are you going to have quality if you have athletes traveling kilometers to get to the training site? Does not make sense.
This prevents the athlete from assimilating knowledge”, he began by saying. Carlos Dinis attributed part of the failure in the youth categories to the fact that Angolans became complacent and did not follow the changes and evolution of the sport over time.
So that the senior men’s National Basketball Team can return to the spotlight, Carlos Dinis suggests as one of the solutions the granting of scholarships abroad for athletes in the youth categories.
In the view of the former international for the national team, this would allow athletes in these categories to raise their competitive levels, which has been an “impossible mission” on Angolan soil due to the precarious conditions in which the clubs find themselves. “We have to get more athletes to play in foreign competitions.
One of the solutions is scholarships, and the government is called to intervene. The work that is done at training levels is depressing. We have to start sending children to develop abroad.
With that we would gain a lot. Until we do this, we will continue to walk the tightrope,” he said.
Regarding the working conditions of the club assigned to Linhas Aéreas de Angola (TAAG), Carlos Dinis revealed that the current situation is difficult.
Asked to justify his statements, Carlos Dinis said in the following terms: “We are fighting to survive. The current situation is really shaky.
The club has been training without schedules. Very regrettable. This way we cannot achieve our objectives”, he lamented.
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