Nosipho “spakes” Njokweni

The weekend feature this week is another dedicated to the ladies! Despite the current on goings of GBV I just want all the ladies to know that on behalf of Mude Basket Blog I as a man and many other man stand to support you. We do not condone such horrendous acts.

In traditonal South African Basketball its very common for a player to be given a nickname. It usually comes when a player is really bad or really good, but I can promise you that Nosipho “SPAKES” Njokweni is definitely up there with the really good... because she’s like really, really good. And with 20 years of national team service she has been a certified bucket since day 1.

I got in touch with Nosipho Earlier this week to find out more about her nickname and her long term national team service.

Full name

Nosipho Njokweni

Birthday

25 March 1981

Years played on national team

15-20

Number of games played on national team

ALOT

Best player you’ve played against/with at national level

Pumla Sathula, Emma Ledwaba personally because they know what it takes to win and they are extremely hard working and mentally strong.

Your favourite/standout game at national level

Yoh, I’ve got a lot of games but one game that always stands out for me, the game we played against Zim at Africa Champs Qualifiers in Zim in 2008 I think. When the game started it was just the 2 teams in the arena, but when we finished there was a full crowd packed to capacity. I loved the fact that we went in as the underdogs in Zim which gave us the energy and drive to win. After that game we all became best friends because we all wanted to win so badly and had all put in so much effort and with the crowd being so against us we had the deepest desire to win and when we did it wrapped up a beautiful story of how hard we worked as a team. And of course after any big win we partied HARD.

A favourite story from national team

I have a couple here as well, 1. you know that in this country women’s basketball isn’t taken seriously. So every time there was a call for a national team we had to make sure that the women that made the team that year stood together and worked hard because at the end of the day the story we are writing isn’t about us, its about the next generation. 2. when BSA tried to belittle us as women to make us think they’re doing us a favour. So we stood up as a team and refused to play and from then on I have massive amounts of respect for those ladies. That stands out for me because it showed how united we really were as a team and as women and to take a stand as a national team was huge because it was about women’s rights and taken a stand.

A message to the kids

To the girls (because I’m so passionate about girls basketball), if you know you want to be successful at something you have give it 150% if everyone else is going at 100%. As an athlete you have to know what it takes to be the best. Its not about the trophies and silverware, it’s Also about your environment, what you have around you that influences you as well as your game. You cant put on a kit and expect people to start respecting you because of it, you have to go out and earn that respect. People see you and will judge you so make sure you have a positive impact. You can use sports as a way to get free education to high school or even university via scholarships so you have to make sure you are committed to your craft and be the best player you can be.