By Y.P.SIVAM, Friday August 26, 2011
metrospt@thestar.com.my Photo by AHMAD EZZRAFIQ
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| Together: The girls going through a drill. |
FORMER international Tan Kee Hian held an exciting training session for the basketball players at the Sekolah Seri Puteri in Cyberjaya recently.
Despite fasting, about 50 students from the school went through the two-hour training session with enthusiasm.
Kee Hian was impressed with the dedication showed by the students.
“The girls certainly surprised me. They had warmed up and were waiting for the coaching clinic to start. As they were fasting, I also took a decision — not to drink any water until the training session was over.
“The girls had the basics. So it was quite easy for me to communicate with them,” said Kee Hian.
The coaching programme was initiated by Ossia World of Golf, in conjunction with the grand final of the AND1 Streetball Challenge at the Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 11.
The coaching session started with the fundamental drills, introduced by former national coach Bruce Wilson.
Kee Hian and his assistant Loh Sing Wei then went on to display the various techniques in basketball.
“In basketball, you must be good in both defence and attack. You must be able to stop your opponent from charging ahead. At the same time you must also have the skills to attack,” said Kee Hian to the students.
There was also a shooting skills practice for the students. Sekolah Seri Puteri basketball teacher Norazmi Mohd Azhari said they were thankful to Ossia World of Golf for initiating the programme.
“Basketball can be considered as a core sport in the school. The girls are active and had represented the school and district in age-group competitions,” said Norazmi.
The school also have a qualified coach in Kan Kim Loon. Under the guidance of Kim Loon, daily training sessions are held.
Sekolah Seri Puteri had also taken part in the High Schools Invitational basketball championships in Port Dickson.
“We had teams from Singapore and Indonesia and we managed to finish third. The girls are looking forward to the grand finals. We will be sending about 15 teams for the event.
“There will not be any players from Forms Three and Five as they will be sitting for their PMR and SPM examinations,” said Kim Loon.
Ossia World of Golf executive director Saw Swee Leong said they were expecting about 200 teams for the grand final.
“Due to logistic reasons we can accommodate more teams. We urge the teams to register early to avoid disappointment,” said Swee Leong.
The grand final will have five categories – boys Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18, men’s Under-25 and girls’ Under-18.
The challenge is sanctioned by Malaysia Basketball Association (Maba).
The sponsors are Milo (official beverage); Star Metro (official Media); One FM (official radio) and Berjaya Times Square (official venue sponsor) while Celcom Axiata is the co-sponsor.
The registration fee is RM90 per team. Each player will receive an AND1 jersey and each team will receive an AND1 basketball on the event day.
