Binang set sights on league double

Thato Kala | Sunday December 8, 2013 20:41

The teenage sensation has now shifted her focus to winning another title albeit in a different sport – basketball. This is just three months into her fling with hoops; and history is already beckoning her. It all started when she was asked by BDF V’s basketball coach to help the team because of her height. Since then, she has never looked back. In fact, she has become a vital cog in the army side, the same way she has been for the netball outfit. At this point, her biggest inspiration is the prospect of winning two national titles in two different sports.

“I know I would have made history if I win the championship in basketball, having won it in netball,” says the Cats dynamo. The first time she took a hop on the courts was in September this year.  She is clearly spellbound by the experience: “I’m finding it extremely exciting.”

The youngster says it only took her a month to master the game and realise that she was not playing behind Cats’ shooter, Tebogo Radipotsane, on the netball court. And she is obviously revelling in the progress her BDF V teammates have made this season.

But that does not mean compromising her passion for netball. “Obviously I love netball more and if I’m caught up and have to choose between the two I will go for netball,” she says. While she revels in her newfound game, her Cats teammates and coaches are a little concerned that she has taken it this far.

“That is news to me,” says her coach, Flora Kedibonye, when asked about Binang’s involvement in the basketball national championships. She reckons her interest in the sport could have been arisen when they used basketball rings at training.

“We use the board to train them to go up with the ball. I think the interest came from there,” adds the shrewd Kedibonye. The championship-winning mentor sounded is not amused by the news and is keen on watching her most prized possession play basketball.

But she is well aware that her love for netball is too strong for her to dump Cats at any stage. On the other hand, national basketball team assistant coach James Kalebwe, who watched Binang play against UB Relics last Sunday, sees potential in her and believes with more practice she could be a gem. “She is very talented; if she dedicates more time to basketball she could come up tops,” Kalebwe says. Interestingly, Kalebwe’s club is in the final of the national championships and he may have to assign one or two of his players to keep a hawk’s eye on the rookie.

Her BDF V teammate, Resego Moepeng, is convinced that with her height she could be their trump card. Kalebwe picks on her rebound on the ball as her strongest point in basketball.

While her rebound on the ball may be awesome, Binang admits the technique she applies in basketball affects her in a huge way when it is time to score in netball.

Binang fluffed a lot of chances during the final against TASC in a netball match last month.

“I think I was missing because I was overwhelmed by the excitement of retaining the league title. We were winning and I could see we were about to take the title again,” she says. 

Despite all those misses, she went on to win an individual award - Best Shooter which she considers a big boost when she takes to the basketball courts. Binang, however, concurs with her Cats teammates that basketball technique is messing her up.

“I am doing basketball technique. It is affecting me when I play netball,” adds the sturdy star.

She insists she will continue playing basketball next season despite opposition from her teammates. The 20-year-old started playing netball while doing Standard Five back in 2004.

One of her school coaches later took her to BDF Cats where she established herself as a vital cog. The enthusiastic star made her Cats debut in 2008; four years later she got her first senior national team call-up as a 19-year-old. “It was the biggest honour to be picked for the national team and it showed me how much potential I had as a player,” she says. Binang and Notwane’s Tumisang Bagidi are undoubtedly the two young talents the national team coaches are building a team around.

She feels some of her progress in the game has been due to rubbing shoulders with exciting players such as Tebogo Radipotsane. The two are a menace to defences and played a crucial role as Cats retained the My Spar, My Botswana title.

“I rate Tebogo highly. She is the best player we have in the local league,” says Binang. And she wants emulate Radipotsane one day and play the game outside the country. Radipotsane had a stint in Singapore in 2011.  But, this weekend, she will be out to ensure she caps off a good year with another league title under her belt. “We have what it takes to go through and win it,” she says. With so much sureness drawn from last month’s triumph, Binang looks poised to make history this weekend.