South Sudan Sport Thread

[chiefayic2]

All things sport....

[chiefayic2]

South Sudan to Represent East Africa in Key Basketball Competition

South Sudan will represent Eastern Africa in the world basketball championship in the United States of America later this year.

JUBA, 12 February 2011 [Gurtong] – The GoSS Minister of Information and Broadcasting Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin described the event as “a historic mark to Southern Sudan”, coming just days after final referendum results showed its separation from North Sudan.

“A nation that just became independent is already beginning to participate in international events. This is the beginning and Southern Sudan will be participating in many world competitions”, said an elated Dr Marial told the press in Juba.

“Southern Sudan is making a map in the history of sports since it emerged from civil strife with the North and we need to tell the world out there that we are talented”, the Minister said.

He said that the Council of Ministers of the Government of Southern Sudan has approved SDG 3 million for preparation by the 60 sportsmen and women who will participate in the competitions.

He said that the GOSS is happy seeing its youngsters represent the region, saying South Sudan emerged second best in last year’s East Africa basketball competition.

The Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to support and boost sports in the country.

The international competition invite is the first of its kind in the history of the country that has produced some of the biggest names in the basketball arena, most of whom ply their trade in the United States of America’s National Basketball Association (NBA).

(Gurtong)

[chiefayic2]

Long Arms Reach for the Rim

By JOSH KRON
Published: February 19, 2011

JUBA, Sudan — His first two attempts sprung off the back of the rim, the ball careening through the air, the crowd sighing loudly. Mangistu Deng, 16, dribbled back to halfcourt, pounding the ball for his final dunk of the night.

Deng called over a friend, who stood just in front of the foul line, stiff as possible, back to him. Then Deng took off like a grasshopper into the night and soared over his friend. The fans rose to their feet. Cellphone cameras clicked.

Mangistu Deng — slam-dunk champion, Juba City, 2011.

After decades of civil war, peace has finally settled in southern Sudan. The south will soon declare independence from the north, and with this newfound freedom, the southern Sudanese are beginning to rediscover themselves, reacquaint themselves with all that has been stunted or twisted or buried under the weight of war.

Crazy for basketball is part of who they are, or were. Manute Bol, their pioneer, became an N.B.A. star a quarter-century ago. Since then, many talented players, some driven out of southern Sudan by the years of violence, have had solid collegiate careers in the United States.

With the legends came the clichés about Africans and basketball, the laughs and the bad Kevin Bacon movie.

Now, though, at the dawn of peace, there appears to be emerging an exuberant re-embrace of the sport, and with it a second wave of talent to be recruited, prospects perhaps no longer seen chiefly as curiosities.

They are versatile, freakishly athletic, and with a confidence for the game. Their hero is not Bol, who died last June; it is Luol Deng, a star with the Chicago Bulls. The N.B.A. has noticed.

“We are very much in tune with what’s going on in southern Sudan,” said Amadou Fall, the vice president for development with N.B.A. Africa, the league’s outreach arm. “Southern Sudan does have an abundance of tall, well-talented players. We have to pay attention.”

Two years ago, Mangistu Deng (no relation to Luol) was any other third-world teenager, stuck in the usual miserable circumstances: unrivaled poverty, violence, instability.

Now he has found a way out.

Each day, Deng slips away from the daily chaos of the southern capital, Juba, to the sanctuary he has cultivated: Nimra Tilata, the hallowed basketball court near the Nile River. Now he is one of southern Sudan’s top basketball prospects and the face of a new sporting generation. He has not always had a lot in this life, but he has a place to play.

“I was born in war,” he said. “So, I thought, when I grow up, I will be a soldier. But then basketball just came.

“God gave me this talent. It was not my choice. I really appreciate it.”

At Nimra Tilata, he meets his friends Makur Puou and Hakim Nyang. Coach Bil Duany brings the ball, and in the midday heat, the youngsters scrimmage, and hustle and sweat. The backdrop of the independence rallies and campaign posters, the dust bowls and the meandering children fade away.

The rekindled passion for the game has been fueled in part by the return of the Sudanese basketball diaspora. Duany, who played Division I basketball at Eastern Illinois from 2004-6, is one who came back.

“There are guys here with N.B.A.-caliber talent,” said Duany, who serves as a coach to many of the local boys.

The obvious attributes endure. The Dinka and Nuer tribes of southern Sudan are considered among the tallest people in the world.

“South Sudanese are tall, they run well for guys of their size, and they’re very skillful,” Duany said. “They’ve passed that requirement already.”

Now Duany is here to help them get to the next level. In southern Sudan, one of the poorest places in the world, the chance to play basketball may be the chance of a lifetime.

“I want to show my country I can do something,” Deng said.

Bol, a 7-foot-6 Dinka cattle herder, was the first to show what a Sudanese player could do on the world stage. He was the second African-born player to be drafted into the N.B.A., and for years, he was, if an incomplete player, a shot-blocking sensation.

Bol, though, was not just a defender on the court. He used his N.B.A. salary to help bankroll the southern Sudanese liberation movement, which fought an insurgency against the north during the civil war.

If all goes according to plan, Deng, who is 6-7; Puou, who is 16 and 6-8; and Nyang, who is 15 and 7-1, will be playing this fall at Mooseheart, a prep school in Illinois.

In the United States, they will join a growing list of Duany’s recruits, including the 7-1 Chier Ajou, who has committed to New Mexico, and Peter Jurkin, a highly rated center, who is headed to Indiana.

But basketball’s long-term future here hangs on the quality and lasting nature of independence. Political separation between north and south is not yet complete, and Duany said it was difficult obtaining passports for southern players to travel and play outside the country.

Although southern Sudan is unlikely to field a national basketball team by the 2012 Olympics, it hopes to compete in 2016.

For at least one night last month, the future seemed to have arrived at Nimra Tilata court. The slam-dunk contest was a carousel of spins, jabs and hang time. By the end, only one person was still standing — or floating.

The crowd stood silent as Deng rose higher, tongue out in a Jordanesque swagger, before exploding in applause as he ripped the ball through the rim.

“I am waiting,” he said, days after finding out he had been accepted to Mooseheart. “Any time. Any minute. Any hour. I am ready.”

(New York Times)

[chiefayic2]

South Sudan Football Federation to be formed

By Juma John Stephen

The Undersecretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation in the Government of Southern Sudan, Mr. John Baptist said on Wednesday that a Southern Sudan Football Federation shall soon be formed.


RVI and Rumbek Town football teams at Rumbek Freedom Square after a friendly match. [Photo - File]

JUBA, February 23 (Gurtong) - “It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation in the Government of Southern Sudan is soon expected to establish the provisional Southern Sudan Football Association.” Said Baptist.

This declaration comes after the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Eissa Hayatu, made similar remarks during his speech at the CAF General Assembly in Khartoum.

Hayatu declared that the next general assembly of the Confederation shall endorse the Southern Sudan Football Federation as the 54th member of the Federation of African Football.

In a separate event, the Minister of Youth, Sports and Recreation in the Government of Southern Sudan, Brigade General, Makauc Teny Youk discussed with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Sudan Country director Ibrahim Sidi Be, to review and assess the needs of Southern Sudan in the areas mandated by UNESCO.

UNESCO has pledged to assist the Ministry in developing overall national policy and strategic plan for youth and sports. Makauc affirmed his ministry’s cooperation for all the programs in support of development and welfare of the youth.

Link

[DZman]

Abubaker Kaki Khamis the 800 meters champ, where he belongs?
Is he from south Sudan ?
According to wiki his Place of birth is Elmuglad, (central Sudan)

[kitayabi]

well Wikipedia is right he is from central Sudan not the South.

[chiefayic2]

Cup Championship continues in South Sudan

Saturday, 26 March 2011 18:00 Sport >>>

The Gudai football team of Yambio in Western Equatoria State has defeated Torit Imatong 1-0 in South Sudan's Championship Cup tournament.

Meanwhile, Juba Kator football team won the mach against Yambio Marikh team 6 - 3, and in Western Bahr el Gazal State team Awil defeated Raja Salam 1 - 0.

Miraya FM

[chiefayic2]

Top teams in Yambio, Western Equatoria

[chiefayic2]

Kator Juba beats Godei Yambio 4-0 in southern football

Tuesday, 29 March 2011 13:03 Sport >>>.

Kator Juba humbled visitors Godei Yambio 4-0 in Juba Stadium in the Cup Championship. Meanwhile, in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, Peace Aweil is scheduled to take on Kojok in the second round of the championship at Isaac stadium on Tuesday.

Miraya FM

[chiefayic2]

Sports minister establishes provisional football association

JUBA, 8 April 2011 – The minister for Youth, Sports and Recreation, Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), Brig. Gen. Makuac Teny Youk, has issued a ministerial order establishing the South Sudan Provisional Football Association.


The association will be in office for one year and will manage, promote and supervise football affairs in South Sudan. It will be led by Hon. Oliver Mori Benjamin as President, Doub Foj Jok as Vice President, Rudolf Andera Oujika as Secretary General, and Jaden Jada Solomon as the Treasurer. It has a total of 17 members.


It will also review existing basic rules and general regulations for the game as well as pursue the inclusion of South Sudan in the regional and international football federations such as CECAFA, CAF and FIFA. It will also work on establishing a national football team for South Sudan and organize state football associations.


The minister explained that the association has been established in accordance with the need to realize development of sports for the benefit of the people of South Sudan and especially the football sporting potential of the people and to empower the youth for education, employment, health, recreation, participation in governance and sustainable development of the new country.

[Blue Lou]

Do you see Southern Sudan having a better team than Sudan in the future?

[chiefayic2]

Well, I don't know much about Sudan national team.....strength included. But, with time and right people running things........Yes, I see South Sudan being a dominant force in the region.

[bh2010]

Originally Posted by Blue Lou

Do you see Southern Sudan having a better team than Sudan in the future?

South Sudan eyes basketball as new national pride
story

Not to brag, but we are already dominating Basketball. It's just a matter of time before we start kicking their ass in the other sports too..and in a whole lot of other things.

[Blue Lou]

Are you from Sudan?

Isn't it mainly Dinka people who like sports?

[bh2010]

Yes, I'm South Sudanese...and NO, all south Sudanese regardless of tribe participate in our sports. If you've got skills, no one's going stop you from playing. contrary to what many people would make you believe about SS, we are not that tribally minded, at least not at the level of other African countries. Maybe we'll get there (crossing my fingers we don't) but at the moment, it's not as bad.

[BUTEMBO21]

Its going to be hard to beat these guys, tall as hell.

Angola (Africa's Basketball Supreme leader ), followed by Nigeria , Cameroun, Senegal. Will indeed be a good derby.

[chiefayic2]

Renovation of Juba football stadium on track

Saturday, 16 April 2011 20:26 Sport >>> Officials of the Ministry of Culture Youths and Sports have confirmed that the renovation of Juba football stadium that started last week under the supervision of the Government of Southern Sudan in coordination with the local football association, is proceeding well. The stadium will host a match between South Sudan and Kenya on 9th July.

Miraya FM

[Blue Lou]

Is there any news on if a national football league will be created?

[chiefayic2]

There is no news, but it will be created......There are people working on it.

[Blue Lou]

South Sudan appoint new head coach/manager:

http://jubapost.org/article-87.html