A very special event awaited the DHPS basketball players. From 24 - 27 March, the U19 boys team travelled to the Mafikeng basketball festival in South Africa for the first time. The International School of South Africa had invited us to their annual event. A total of 10 teams from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia had enrolled. Accompanied by coach Linda and manager Konzmann, the team flew to Mafikeng near the Botswana border. In the afternoon the players had their first match against the South African team Norkem. Exhausted from the trip, we lost with just 4 points. Our players soon recovered from their defeat and won 65 - 9 against Tynwald in the evening. The game against ISSA (International School of South Africa) was a special qualifying round meeting. Coach Linda warned about the play level of the hosts. Their home advantage was another serious challenge. Our team managed to overcome their initial communication problems and played confidently. At the end, we defeated one of the toughest opponents in our pool with a clear score of 28 - 39. Unfortunately the other three games were less successful. Our young team still lacks communication skills and routine, so that we had to concede defeat to allegedly weaker teams - with very close difference in points at times. Finally, we achieved 6th place and the “Best Dressed Team” trophy.
It was a great , enlightening experience. The basketball team returned to Namibia motivated and ambitious for future achievements.
Thank you to our DHPS-team:
- Elijah Hilukiluah (Ex-DHPS-Schüler)
- Marcel Prinzonsky
- Andriko Böhringer
- Oliver Baas
- Florian Hecht
- Mirco Kriess
- Patrick Hess
- Fabian Hess
- Clemens Roeber
- Olawale Atejioye
- Damian Schreiber
- Sascha Rapp
- Hilton Swartbooi
