Stellenbosch University’s (SU) basketball teams recently had mixed success when they played at the opening fixture of the Western Cape University Sports South Africa’s (USSA) league friendly games.
Maties played University of Western Cape (UWC) on 5 May. SU’s men’s basketball team beat UWC’s men’s team 61-52, while the women’s team lost 35-45 to UWC’s women’s team, according to Damian Keano Rietteis, vice-captain of SU men’s basketball team.
The Maties basketball teams have full access to the Coetzenburg Stadium this year, and will therefore be able to host more games at home, said Masie Ntlali, head coach for men’s basketball at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Erinma Nedum
“We are starting the season off well. […] Our team looks really good. Some of the new [players] struggle with confidence but we can build that,” said Rietteis.
Prior to the opening fixtures USSA’s league games, the men’s basketball team won three out of their five pre-season games, losing to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) team on 19 April and to the Cape Town based-club, Vikings, on 25 April. The women’s team won both of their pre-season games.
Preparation for the season
SU’s men’s basketball team won their game on 17 April against the Cape Town-based Kings men’s team with a score of 100-23. The score was a new record for SU’s men’s team in terms of points scored against their opponents, said Rietteis.
According to Masie Ntlali, head coach for SU’s men’s basketball team, many of the players that played in the first three pre-season games were playing in some of their first season games.
“On the first day of try-outs I had about seventy-three men show up […] We now have twenty-one [players] on the team. Nine of them are rookies,” said Ntlali.
The SU women’s basketball team also won against Kings, with a final score of 52-17.
Maties’ previous season
According to captain of the women’s team, Ingrid Tredoux, SU’s women’s team won all of their intervarsity games in 2023.
“We had a good year. […] We won most of our games in [USSA], except the final,” said Tredoux.
“Last year [the men’s basketball team] had a good season, we remained in section A. […] We placed number six out of eight,” said Ntlali.
“It is going to be a big season for us. […] It is our first time in the A-league,” said Ingrid Tredoux, captain of the Stellenbosch University’s women’s basketball team. PHOTO: Erinma Nedum
Aiming for top six
This year will be Tredoux’s team’s first season in section A of the league. Their primary goal is to remain in the A-league by finishing in the top six, said Tredoux.
“As for the men’s team, it will be a tough season, but a very exciting one. […] The only thing we strive for now is to go to [the] podium. We must either win a gold, silver, or bronze medal in section A of the USSA [tournament],” said Ntlali. “That is our next assignment.”