After their historic participation in the World Cup, the Brights Stars won their place at the Paris Olympic Games and even became the best team on the African continent. Enough to make young basketball players who train in Juba dream.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Juba, Florence Miettaux
The basketball court of the Luol Deng Foundation at the University of Juba is teeming with players training, dribbling, doing push-ups, scoring baskets… Coach Majok Owen has seen the effect of the success of the men’s national team: From the World Cup to the Olympics, it’s something huge. This increased the number of new recruits. Every day we have new arrivals, boys and girls. Everyone admires the national team. »
For Makal Peter, a 17-year-old student, seeing the Bright Stars progress to the Olympic Games is quite exhilarating: “ This feeling, I can’t describe it, it’s what motivates me to come and train every day. It’s because of what they accomplished. I am proud of our players, and I would like to one day continue our country’s legacy on the national team when they retire. »
Laat Mayen, also 17, dreams of joining the NBA: “ This is what I want to become. To be able to make my country proud, like LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, I want to be like them. We are happy and we want to make Africa proud. May our continent and our country be known to other nations. »
The country became independent in 2011 and is best known for its wars and humanitarian crisis. Her historical participation at the Basketball World Cup last year propelled him among the greatest. Arou Ramadan Chan, general secretary of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, shares the collective’s state of mind a few months before the Games.
When we are at the Olympics, and we raise our flag high, the world will hear about South Sudan without it having anything to do with war, tribalism, killings or corruption. We will hear about positive results, this participation in the Olympics is really beneficial for the image of South Sudan. We hope that there will be more and more such happy news for our country in the future. Even if we don’t win, we are doing something positive for our country. And as a federation, that is what we strive to achieve.