How South Sudan’s basketball rose to life in 2021

For South Sudanese football teams, 2021 was a year to forget, but for the South Sudan National Basketball (SSNB), 2021 presented enormous opportunities.

The team flew to Kigali for the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 and raised the country’s flag high with stellar performances.

South Sudan’s Senior Men’s Basketball team joined the other well-known record teams in AfroBasket 2021 as underdogs, only to gain huge respect after securing position eight in the FIBA ranking.

Their performance in the Kigali tournament in August 2021 inspired many basketball fans across the continent to believe that the country was capable of much more than their minds would have expected from them.

The performance

In their first-ever competitive FIBA AfroBasket, South Sudan, registered a 20-0 off-court win against Cameroon after the Cameroonian team was affected by COVID-19 protocols.

Their second AfroBasket game was against a more experienced and finalist team in Senegal, in which they lost 104-75.

However, the boys were motivated as they came back strongly by registering their first-ever win at FIBA AfroBasket after beating neighbouring Uganda 88-86 in their last Group D game at Kigali Arena.

The win against Uganda meant South Sudan finished second in Group D, behind group leaders Senegal.

They built on this effort by beating Kenya in the quarter-final qualification, only to be eliminated by Tunisia, the reigning African champions.

Although the team exited the competition in the quarterfinals, their brilliant performance put smiles on the faces of many South Sudanese basketball fans.

“At least we can say proudly, we have the best team, that can make us shout with all our strength, because of the hope and motivation you give us your boys; we thank you so much; we are happy,” one of the supporters who went to welcome the team back to Juba Airport expressed her joy in September.

In his brief press conference after being received by the fans and officials at Juba Airport, the South Sudan Basketball Federation President, Luol Deng, said although they suffered an early exit in the tournament, the competition had earned the country huge respect on the continent.

“I think now we are respected and a lot of teams now want our players.” It is because they see we played hard [and did so] with a purpose, and I think South Sudanese have to be happy about that, ” he remarked in a statement after the team jetted in at Juba International Airport from Rwanda, Kigali.

Mr Deng said the best performance by his players revealed the country’s potential.

“When it comes to the game of basketball, the guys are just as good as they are. Though we are a young federation, they work hard and bring something new to the game, ” Mr Deng said.

“It was an amazing and huge accomplishment to tell these guys for the first time in the history of AfroBasket that they were going to go to AfroBasket and be one of the remaining eight teams and come outranked,” he added.

Sports inspiring

Deng said the event reminded him of some of the late African leader Nelson Mandela’s words about sports as a powerful tool for unity.

“As Nelson Mandela once said before, ‘‘sport is a very powerful tool that can bring people together, and I believe that, and our players’ play is something bigger than just basketball’’.

“Yes, outside there we are playing basketball, but in our heart, we know we are playing for South Sudan to put the country on the map and for people to start realising that there are a lot of young kids here in South Sudan that can change the course of their lives, families, and the country,” he added.

More investment needed

However, he said there is a need for the country to do a lot to put the country on the right track.

“One thing I can say is that the players that we have always take their time to play basketball. They flee to different countries, and we are still the only national team that is not paying our players, “he revealed.

He stated that all of the basketball national team players were only playing for the sake of national pride and joy; otherwise, they were not compensated.

Dr Albino Bol Dhieu, the country’s sports minister, commended the players for their hard work in the AfroBasket 2021 tournament, adding that everyone was happy, including President Salva Kiir.

“When I was coming to receive you people, the president of the republic, Salva Kiir, extended his hand to you for what you were doing outside. He told me that he was happy with you and was hopeful that in your few days here, he would be able to meet you.”

He said being respected by other countries was very important.

“Yes, we have been knocked out by the Tunisian team, but I believe that in the next tournament, South Sudan will be on top.” We do believe that we have the players with potential, and what we need is support from both the government and other private sectors, or whoever wishes to support basketball teams in the country. “

According to him, helping the basketball team in the country was in the plan of the ministry, adding that they were working hard to put the budget for basketball into the annual budget of the ministry.

“So, what I want to say is that all of you guys are soldiers who are fighting for our flag, who are making us proud people as South Sudanese,” he added.

“This is the image that will change the narrative of war, the narrative of bad things in the country,” he concluded.

Captain speaks                           

While in Juba, Kuany Ngor Kuang, SSNB team captain, said it was amazing to play for South Sudan, adding the people’s joy made them more motivated.

He said that throughout the tournament, he came to realise that it was important for the country to invest in sports.

The SSNB team captain believed that encouraging sports in the country would pave the way for peaceful co-existence among youth.

The skipper said South Sudanese youth were hardworking people, talented, and with a lot of potentials but lacked the chance to exercise such talents fully due to conflicts ravaging the country.

“I think sports can be used as a catalyst to help in promoting peace and bringing South Sudan together,” he said.

“I just liked it when we got to play [and] the whole country went behind us. [This is] not only about people from here (home), but also about people from Australia, the United States, Canada, and around the world. People liked the way we played and they supported us, “he revealed.”

He spoke to The City Review while in Juba after AfroBasket 2021.

“What touched me, and I hope [touched] my colleagues [too], was that] whenever the National Anthem is being sung, you can see how people shed tears; it is something amazing, but it [also] brings [emotions] to someone [whose mind] gets back home,” Kuang narrated.

Captain Kuang said people would love to see a young country where people live in peace.

According to him, the message he got from all these South Sudanese and other supporters who were crying throughout the game was that South Sudan needed peace today and not tomorrow.