Friendly match paves way for improvement Mitrais’ wheelchair basketball team joined forces with teams from Stiff Chili, Puspadi and Bali International School to make up the Indonesia team and participated in a friendly match against the team sent by Singaporean Wheelchair Basketball Association, labeled the Singapore team. There were two games played before the Singapore team returned to their motherland, but the lessons they imparted are still being implemented today. The Indonesia team and Singapore team spent two days practicing together. Consisting of six players and two referees, Team Singapore, who had participated in several international wheelchair basketball tournaments, demonstrated how they practice and showcased some of the basic strategies they used. “They showed us several drills they use to build team cohesion and refine individual techniques,” Roy Syahputra, a member of Mitrais’ team. He worked alongside Team Singapore’s Coach Roy Wong, who shared his experience in handling the team exercises and strategies. “We learned how to wheel faster, be more agile, and not to waste any opportunity to score. We are training at a new level now.” Roy observed a change in the team’s style of playing after the wake-up call they got from the Singapore team. “We are more fired up, now that we know that as a team, we can implement a better strategy and playing style.” “It was a learning experience,” commented Jenal, another member of Mitrais’ team. “The Singaporean team moved so quickly and precisely. We had a hard time keeping up, but with the drills and tactics they shared with us, I hope we can improve our play and one day, play at an international level.” The team now practices twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday. “We increased our practice sessions and implemented a new training regime so in our next match we can show a better level of playing than what we have now,” Roy concluded. The friendly games were organized by Bali Sports Foundation working in tandem with Singaporean Wheelchair Basketball Association. The purpose was to improve the quality of players in Bali and took place at the Bali International School.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 03:06:38 +0000