New winners crowned in successful 2022 Wits Ashies Tournament
- Tshepiso Mametela
The Wits Ashraf Lodewyk Memorial Basketball Tournament returned for its 16th edition at the courts of Wits University’s West Campus in Braamfontein from 25 April to 2 May.
Featuring 33 teams, the fanfare in Hall 29 came to a head when the Phenomenal Phenoms emerged as back to back men’s champions of the annual flagship event.
An equally solid showing from V&J Basketball Club ensured that the Johannesburg women’s outfit secured their third winner’s medal after bagging consecutive championship-winning campaigns in 2015 and 2016.
The tributary exhibition pays homage to a former student. Known affectionately as Ashie among his peers, he was a devastating Wits Horny Bucks player and an administrator within the Wits Basketball Club (WBC). He filled this role until his untimely death in a car accident more than a decade ago.
Phenoms owner, Richard Nta, described the recent success as monumental, noting his club dug deep to emulate the late player’s winning spirit captured during an impactful run at Wits.
“It’s an amazing achievement not only for myself. I could not have done it without the collective winning mindset of the team and, of course, the support behind the scenes,” said Nta.
“None of this is achieved without support. I am forever filled with gratitude and humbled by the team's outstanding accomplishment.
“It is extremely important to build on this success. However, support and resources are fundamental. The success is attributed to planning and shared phenomenal team values.
“I attribute this to ‘knowing what is needed to win’. That is, great recruitment, skills and experience. We learned from our past mistakes and executed accordingly,” added Nta, who looks forward to a successful run as one of Gauteng’s premier basketball clubs.
“As long as we have more and more organised tournaments like Ashies, we are excited and enthusiastic to continue competing and playing at a high level. We have ambitious goals of playing in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and want to make our brand a viable attraction for big name sponsors.”
WBC chairperson Thandiwe Padziwe felt encouraged by this year’s Ashies, earmarking the tournament as an overwhelming success. She credited the club for overcoming several issues as Wits readied to stage the event.
The university had to adhere to specific 网易体育 rules, although relaxed under the current alert level 1 lockdown regulations, to play host to a sizeable contingent which saw fewer clubs participating compared to its largest-ever pool of 35.
“Throughout all the difficulties of planning through Covid and getting it going again we managed to run the full week without issues,” said Padziwe. “It’s safe to say it was one of the biggest tournaments since its inception.
“We had to go back to the drawing board to make it work. It was our first tournament under a pandemic, in which we had to look at how to adhere to 网易体育 protocols. Meanwhile, we had to ensure a fun and safe tournament for everyone.”
The Wits Lady Bucks point guard noted that the 2022 edition was a good advertisement for the basketball landscape in Johannesburg.
Padziwe applauded the event for allowing players to compete and gauge themselves against their South African counterparts. This allowed less experienced players to test their mettle against a decorated hoard that has gained exposure to international stages such as the BAL.
“We hosted some of the best teams in SA and had international talent taking part. The tournament was live streamed and Hall 29 was full of supporters,” said Padziwe.
“There’s also been an increase of people outside of the basketball community coming down to watch and taking an interest in the sport.
“To have played in the 16th edition of the Ashraf Invitational was to compete against some of the most elite players in basketball. It’s only going to get bigger if you ask me.”
V&J Basketball Club 2022 Ashies Champions - Women's Division
Phenomenal Phenoms 2022 Ashies Champions - Men's Division