Visiting Italian coaches watch basketball league

MBABANE – The four Italian basketball coaches who are in the country are confident that they will improve the standard of the sport during their stay.

The quartet of Glovanni Albanesi, Lilli Minnetti, Giada Bergantini and Maria Berton will be in the country for five days and part of their programme includes conducting coaching clinics. All four coaches are from a private organisation based in Italy called Sports Around The World. They said they spent their free time giving basketball coaching clinics around the African continent.

Albanesi said they were making a return to Swaziland following their tour in 2011 where they conducted coaching clinics in Nhlangano. “We are here and we are still going to visit some different places in the country where we hope to meet the players, coaches and match officials. Swaziland is not the only country to be visited by us,” he said.

The coaches have been to countries including Cameroon, Tanzania and Swaziland. He said there were still more places they would visit in Africa. He said their target was to give information and help Africa develop in playing basketball.
“The last time we were in the country we saw a great passion among the players. The attendance in Nhlangano was good and you could tell that there were a lot of people who want to play basketball and there are fans out there,” he said.

Some of the places to be visited are Nkambeni, Simunye, Salesian, and Coronation Park in Mbabane.
Albanesi said the country needs material to improve. “While we are here in Swaziland we wish our basketball President Stefano Bitzoti in Italy all the best after his son was born today (yesterday) when we arrived in the country,” he said. Swaziland National Basketball Association (SNBA) Head of Technical Martin Samambwa confirmed that the coaches were still to visit various places and their last stop will be at Coronation Park from 9am to 4pm. He invited basketball players and coaches to attend the sessions with the coaches. He said they were in the country to give and they appreciated it.

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