my dream comes true
Ernest Mabasa
When Prestige College shooting guard Masedi Madisha went into the field against Pretoria High School for Girls, her only intention was to step-in for her absent teammate, Amukelani Sarila.
Sarila, who was recently selected for the Gauteng Basketball Team was unavailable for the game and Madisha made sure she delivers a performance that reflects her teammate as she is regarded as one of the best in the team.
Madisha, 16, finished the game as the leading basket scorer with 26 points as her Prestige side won 29-19 against Pretoria High School for Girls last Friday.The grade 10 hopes that her great performance continues in the coming matches.
“I feel great that we have won the game and my wish has come true. I wanted to step in for Sarila and score more baskets because she is our main player. And I am glad I did it for her, the team and for myself and I want to do well going to our next matches. The opponents took us for granted as they thought we were going to lose because we did not have Amukelani. This game was challenging and our start was bad that we could not score in the first quarter and they were scoring which depresses sometimes,” she said.
Prestige College coach Shadrack Moyo says there are a few elements that a team cannot win without, more especially for teams such as his team.
He said, motivation is among the elements that any good coach should have and having a dedicated team that would listen to the coach.
“I believe every coach should motivate his/her players. That is where it starts. Players cannot play well without motivation. When they play they must be free so that they can showcase their talent. This team’s performance is promising because players like Amukelani, are in grade 12 and that means next year they will be at tertiary level,” he said.
Girls’ High coach Mapitso Makena has described the match which they lost as a “mental switch” that needed players to use their minds in order to elude opponents and score. “We played according to our plan. We dominated the first quarters. It was unfortunate to our side. The match was a mental switch.”
