Written by Mphatso Malidadi http://www.bnltimes.com
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Southern Zone Basketball League (Sozobal) Crazy Warriors coach Robert Munthali is confident that his newly acquired skills and ideas from Turkey Youth Basketball camp will inspire him to help in the development of the sport.
Munthali together with teenage player Desiderous Chinkhosi participated in a 10-day youth basketball camp in Turkey.
Participants were drawn from 172 countries, who are affiliated to World Basketball governing body Fiba.
The former point guard said the youth camp was an eye opener and it exposed him to different coaching methods.
“It was one the best workshops I have attended in recent year’s. It drew experienced coaches who shared with us the current best techniques of the sport,” he said.
Munthali said they were also given an opportunity to train teams.
“Each coach was also asked to contribute either offensive or defensive moves.
Then we were scrutinizing the moves before selecting the best moves. We used similar system to identify the best passes, rebounds, lay-ups among others,” he said.
Munthali said he observed that most countries had put in place developmental structures.
“It is not surprising that most of the top basketball sides such as America have strong foundation. I also noted that most Basketball Federations were working jointly with the schools to identify and nurture talent,” he said.
Munthali, who is also director of Sports at Joyce Banda Foundation, said he will consult Basketball Association of Malawi (Basmal) to conduct similar workshop.
“I wish to share the knowledge which I have acquired with others. If the sport is to develop in the country we need collaborated efforts,” he said.
Basmal president Oscar Kanjala said they would discuss with Munthali to come up with mechanisms to share knowledge with others.
Munthali and Chinkhosi had the chance to watch three games during last week’s World Basketball Championship which United States of America won.