Deaf basketball women's team eyes top-five in Brazil
National women’s deaf basketball team player Teresia Wangui action during their training session at the Nyayo National Stadium Indoor Gymnasium on April 13, 2022.
What you need to know:
- In 2020, she was among those recognised by President Uhuru Kenyatta as sports heroes and heroines during the Mashujaa Day celebrations at Gusii Stadium in Kisii. She said her personal target in Brazil is to be crowned the MVP.
- National men’s deaf basketball team are in Group A alongside Israel, United States, Argentina and Poland. Group B has Lithuania, hosts Brazil, Greece, Venezuela, Chinese Taipei and Ukraine.
The national women’s deaf basketball team assistant coach Hilda Indasia has termed as “tough” their group B at the 24th Summer Deaflympics, but said they will fight for a top five finish.
The Games will take place in Caxias Do Sul, Brazil from May 1 to 15. Kenya are in pool B alongside the United States, Turkey, Lithuania and Ukraine.Group A comprises hosts Brazil, Greece, Italy and Poland.
Coach Indasia said they will have to work hard in order to achieve their target.
“Those are powerhouses. A team like the USA is a top level basketball team. We know it is a big challenge ahead of us. We will have to work very hard and we are hoping to improve from what they did in the last Olympics,” said Indasia.
She spoke on Wednesday on the sidelines of the team’s training at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium.
The national women’s deaf basketball team debuted at the global event in 2017 in Samsun, Turkey. They finished eighth and were awarded a Diploma Certificate for that performance, since it was their first appearance in the competition.
“We don’t want to set unrealistic targets by saying that we want to win gold or silver medals. We can look at a top five finish,” said Indasia.
She decried lack of adequate training time, but said the team will be raring to go by the time they jet out of the country for the Games.
“It (the training) has been okay. We have made progress but we may have needed a bit more time because we have players that are coming from teams that were not active in sports. We started from the fundamentals before going to technical stuff because the players are like beginners,” she said.
While 20 players are in camp at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi, only 12 will travel to Brazil.
The team’s captain Mercy Mideva said they are not intimidated by their powerhouse opponents.
She said they would also like to improve their ranking in the world. Kenya is ranked ninth globally.
"Before we were feeling like America is strong, but after the training we have had in camp, we believe that we can perform better. We trust in our abilities," she said.
In 2019, Mideva was named the Most Valuable (MVP) Deaf Basketball Player in the country and the best player of the year for Rongai Deaf Basketball.
In 2020, she was among those recognised by President Uhuru Kenyatta as sports heroes and heroines during the Mashujaa Day celebrations at Gusii Stadium in Kisii. She said her personal target in Brazil is to be crowned the MVP.
National men’s deaf basketball team are in Group A alongside Israel, United States, Argentina and Poland. Group B has Lithuania, hosts Brazil, Greece, Venezuela, Chinese Taipei and Ukraine.
