Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
VETERAN basketball coach Theo Weale has expressed concern at the possible loss of interest in the game by players due to the long layoff enforced by the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) classified basketball as a high risk sport and it remains unknown when such sports will even be given the green light to resume training.
“The biggest challenge has been checking if players are following training programmes that l send to them. It’s also unfortunate most of them don’t have a basketball court or basketball hoop at home where they can practise to shoot, so it’s more about fitness training for them to stay in shape. But like all sports, the best way to get your game specific training is to play the game itself,” said Weale, the Highlanders’ basketball coach.
“I just hope the players have not lost their interest because we’re not you engaging them face-to-face. A lot of times you get half the team participating in group discussions that we have. I also send drills to the players, but lack of monitoring means the technique can be done in the wrong way and it can become a challenge to undo it. We just hope that when we do start afresh we are not starting from zero and it will be a fresh start for all of us.”
While setting tasks for the squad has been an important part of his job, he also revealed how he has enjoyed being able to do more research on the game.
“It’s unfortunate that we are faced with this pandemic, but I have been doing a bit of research on my side looking at the way we play as a team, reflecting on games that we lost and I know we could have won looking at the general player performance and seeing where we can improve as a team.”
He said he’s been doing research on the internet and sending to his players, but data challenges have also been affecting some of his players.
Sometimes he holds open discussions online with his players trying to find a constructive way of playing when training and play resume.
“Right now it’s all about finding our strengths and weaknesses so that we improve the way we play. Basically this is a time for me as a coach and the players do to some inner reflection and see how we can better ourselves individually and collectively when we finally meet,” Weale said. — @innocentskizoe
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