FEATURE: Columnist Sandy Asiedu’s take on 2014 Sprite Ball

Columnist Sandy Asiedu digs deep into what he expects from players and teams at next year’s Sprite Ball Championship in Accra.

By Sandy Asiedu

Basketball in Ghana has come of age with the introduction of competitions like the junior ball and sprite ball which focuses on developing the game from age 6 to 18, for 6 years it’s been the sole responsibility of an Accra-based company Rite Multimedia to make this dream a reality.

The game has seen lots of improvement as the years go by, kids who started from the junior ball competition have grown to become better Sprite Ball players, which means there has been a gradual transition all the way up.

Schools from the central, Ashanti, and Eastern have dominated for years but one school always stands out when it comes to picking up trophies, and that’s the red army from Mfantsipim.  Undoubtedly the best of the best, Koforidua Secondary Technical School, Ketasco, PREMPEH, AMRMED FORCES AND AKWAMUMAN have shown great resilience over the years when they come face to face with Mfantsipim but in the end we all know who picks up the top trophy.

The question however is can any of these schools find an antidote to curtail the dominance of the red army from central region in this year’s sprite ball competition on the 24^th December?

As basketball enthusiasts, I expect drama, bad calls from referees, good calls as well, flagrant fouls, dunks, crossovers, alihoops, team work and individual brilliance and impact making substitutions from team bench.

I expect to see an improvement with the fundamental and basics aspects of this year’s competition because most of these players over the years, indulge in over elaboration, they get excited when the ball is in their hands forgetting is a team game.

Yes it’s a beautiful game but when a player lacks the basics, he or she looks flat on the basketball court, and that’s not what spectators want to see, let’s all see an improvement in the game this year especially with the females who have flattered to deceive for a while now, I want to be awed so I can write good articles about players and not try to conjecture in my write ups, I wish each school all the best on the 24^th December and hope you show us massive improvement in your game, raise your game, bring your individual ability’s to the fore and above all let’s see a lot of understand in the way each team plays.