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New York’s Tom Thibodeau wins 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year Award

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NEW YORK, United States of America, June 8, 2021/ — New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

This is the second NBA Coach of the Year Award for Thibodeau, who earned the honor in the 2010-11 season with the Chicago Bulls in his first season as an NBA head coach.

Now honored in his first season as the Knicks’ head coach, Thibodeau has become the first person to be named NBA Coach of the Year in his first season as head coach with two different franchises. (Cotton Fitzsimmons won the award in his first season as the Kansas City Kings’ head coach, 1978-79, and again in the first season of his second tenure as the Phoenix Suns’ head coach, 1988-89).

Thibodeau received 43 first-place votes and earned 351 total points to edge Phoenix head coach Monty Williams, who finished in second place with 340 points (45 first-place votes).

The 11-point difference between the first- and second-place finishers marks the smallest margin since the current NBA Coach of the Year voting format was introduced in the 2002-03 season.

Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder finished in third place with 161 points (10 first-place votes).

Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.

With Thibodeau as head coach, New York finished tied for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference (41-31) and made the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The Knicks won 16 of their final 20 games to complete a turnaround from last season’s overall record of 21-45.

Thibodeau led New York to an 11-4 record in April for its winningest month since March 2014 (11-5). He was selected as the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for May after guiding the Knicks to a 6-3 record in the final month of the regular season.

The Knicks showed dramatic improvement on defense with Thibodeau at the helm, leading the NBA in points allowed (104.7) and opponents’ field goal percentage (44.0) and ranking fourth in defensive rating (107.8). Last season, New York finished 17th or lower in all three categories.

Under Thibodeau, Julius Randle was named an NBA All-Star for the first time and won the 2020-21 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award. In addition, Derrick Rose was a finalist for the 2020-21 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award, 2021 NBA Rising Stars selection RJ Barrett ranked as the fourth-leading scorer among second-year NBA players (17.6 ppg), and rookie Immanuel Quickley averaged 11.4 points after being selected by New York with the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Thibodeau is the 10th head coach to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award more than once and the eighth to do it with multiple franchises. In addition, he is the third head coach to be selected as NBA Coach of the Year with the Knicks, joining Red Holzman (1969-70) and Pat Riley (1992-93).

New York hired Thibodeau as its head coach on July 30, 2020. He has a career regular-season record of 393-277 (.587) in nine seasons as an NBA head coach, guiding teams to the playoffs seven times. Before joining the Knicks, he served as head coach of the Bulls for five seasons (2010-15) and the Minnesota Timberwolves over three seasons (2016-19).

The NBA Coach of the Year Award trophy is named in honor of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Red Auerbach. The legendary head coach guided the Celtics to nine NBA championships, including eight in a row from 1959-66.

The voting results for the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year Award are below. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. Complete ballots for each voter will be posted at www.PR.NBA.com after the announcement of all end-of-season awards.

Campenaerts and Nizzolo for Baloise Belgium Tour

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 8, 2021/ — Team Qhubeka ASSOS will be lining up for the Baloise Belgium Tour with a strong team, able to challenge for stage wins but also eyeing a top GC placing.

The Baloise Belgium Tour gets underway tomorrow, starting in Beveren and will see the UCI 2.Pro peloton take on five stages, four road stages and one ITT stage, before finishing in Berengin

Victor Campenaerts, now recovered and ready to race again after his exploits at the Giro d’Italia where he won stage 15 of the Italian grand tour, will lead our team alongside Italian and European Champion, Giacomo Nizzolo.

Dimitri Claeys and Lukasz Wisniowski will add great strength and depth to our lineup, both capable of riding to success on Belgian roads.

Lasse Norman Hansen, Emil Vinjebo & Matteo Pelucchi will complete our line-up.

Victor Campenaerts: “I’m really excited to be back racing and on home roads. After racing the classics for the first time this year, and really enjoying that experience, the first stage here will be on a typical classics style course. So, I am really excited for that. We have a very strong team, we have options with Nizzolo for the sprint stages and Dimitri, Lukasz and me all for the GC so we will go for it in our Ubuntu way.”

NBA Academy launches programme for top female prospects outside the US

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NEW YORK, United States of America, June 8, 2021/ — The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the NBA Academy Women’s Virtual Program, an eight-week basketball and leadership development program for more than 40 of the top female, high-school age (14-17 years old) prospects from the outside the US.

Participants will connect with their peers from around the world and take part in basketball and life skills development programming under the guidance of current and former WNBA players and the NBA Academy staff.

NBA Academy Women’s Virtual Program will Provide more than 40 of the Top International Prospects with Basketball Instruction, Life Skills Development and Player Pathway Guidance from Current and Former WNBA Players; Top Performing Athletes will be considered for Future In-Person Basketball Development Camps.

Any parent or legal guardian interested in submitting an application on behalf of their child should submit their child’s HomeCourt profile or upload a skills video as outlined in the application form on the NBA Academy website by June 18. NBA Academy Women’s Virtual Program participants will be announced in June, with the program starting in July and running through August.

As part of the program’s on-court curriculum, participants will receive weekly virtual basketball lessons, instructions and challenges featuring current and former WNBA players. The interactive lessons will include a variety of shooting, ball handling and conditioning drills to promote holistic skill development.

The top performing athletes will be considered for future in-person basketball development camps and showcases.

The life skills programming will feature weekly sessions centered on leadership development, nutrition, goal setting, personal branding, mental health and wellness, player pathway education and women’s empowerment.

Sessions will feature guest speakers and experts from across the NBA and WNBA family, including NBA Academy Women’s Program Global Technical Director and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Jennifer Azzi.

“The NBA Academy Women’s Virtual Program will continue our mission of helping young women around the world develop as people and players,” said Azzi.

“International players are making a significant impact at all levels of the women’s game, and this program will help top international prospects connect with their peers, learn directly from WNBA players and continue their development.”

Since the NBA Academy Women’s Program launched in 2018, 25 participants have committed to NCAA Division I schools. China’s Han Xu became the first NBA Academy Women’s program participant to be drafted into the WNBA when she was selected 14th overall by the New York Liberty in the 2019 WNBA Draft.

‘The Rebellious’ preparing to fly the Tunisian flag in Monaco

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TUNIS, Tunisia, June 7, 2021/ — As we reach 50 days to the rugby sevens kick-off at the Tokyo Olympics, the Tunisian women’s rugby sevens team prepares to play their second World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco, with ambitions beyond Tokyo 2020.

The Tunisian women’s rugby sevens team has just spent a week at the French rugby union’s national centre in Marcoussis, near Paris. For several days, the Rebellious, the name the Tunisian players have given themselves, worked with the France team and the BelSevens of Belgium.

“We have had a good relationship for almost 10 years with David Courteix (the coach of the France team),” says Abbes Kherfani, coach of Tunisia. “We stayed put, we didn’t move, we were tested four or five times in all.”

In every sense of the word – from a logistical, health and sporting point of view – this camp prior to the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco was very beneficial for Tunisia.

On 19 June, the side will face Papua New Guinea, Kazakhstan and Jamaica in Pool B. The Tunisians would have appreciated a little more playing time to better prepare, but the COVID-19 crisis denied them this possibility.

“Our last competition was in the African Cup in October 2019,” says Abbes Kherfani. “We were nevertheless able to participate in two camps: the Rugby Africa solidarity camp with Madagascar and Kenya at the end of April and the beginning of May, then the one in France. These were the only possibilities.”

A Four-Year Trajectory

Fifth in the Dublin repechage tournament in July 2016, Tunisia failed to qualify for Rio 2016. This time, their second attempt, the Rebellious do not want to go unnoticed.

“We defend the Tunisian flag everywhere; we have nothing to lose. Our motivation is to play hard, to play to the end so that we have nothing to regret. There is a whole country behind us, we have a beautiful country to represent,” insists Kherfani.

In this nation where rugby is not the most popular sport, the Olympic dimension of the women’s national team encourages the press and public to mobilise and follow the tournament as they journey to Monaco.

In four years, women’s rugby in Tunisia has developed a great deal, thanks to the new federal office which wanted to focus on the sport’s grassroots in order to expand it, constituting U12, U14, U16, U18 and senior teams.

“It is thanks to this that we were able to participate in the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina in 2018 with the U18s. We lost our six games, but at least we were there!” says the former sevens and 15s international player.

Monaco first, Cape Town and Paris second

Among the group he is taking to the Principality, seven girls were part of the Youth Olympic Games and four were already present in the 2016 repechage. National coach since June 2020, Kherfani has his sights sets beyond Tokyo, with qualification for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town, followed by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

But before that any of that, his side will face three strong opponents in Monaco. “Our first game will be against Papua New Guinea; it will be the big piece of the pool. In the Pacific, you know, it breathes rugby!” says Kherfani.

“Then we will play Kazakhstan and Jamaica, two teams that we are able to pass. We have one chance to get out of the pool.”

According to Kherfani “the girls are excited” to play in the Olympic Repechage in Monaco: “they’re going to give themselves 1,000 an hour!”

Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualifiers Games Kick Off in Ouagadougou

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 6, 2021/ — The opening match of the Rugby Africa Cup Repechage was played on Saturday, June 5, 2021, in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) at 16:00PM GMT time.

This first match pitted Burkina Faso against Burundi at the Stade 4 Aout stadium. The final score was 52-3 in favor of the host country.

Burkina Faso opened the scoring in the first minute from the start with Démé Kassoum. The Burkina Faso national team dominated the entire first half by a score of 30-0.

On resumption, they continued to multiply tries, conversions, and penalties. The Burundian team scored their only 3 points in the 32nd minute.

Burundi national coach Kinyinda Wakazadi said his rugby players will change tactics to face Cameroon. He remains confident for the rest of the competition, recognizing their limit due to weather conditions. “The problem is the heat, and we are not used to playing in the heat,” he said.

On the other hand, Burkina Faso’s national coach, Cheikh Amidou Ouédraogo, had a thought for the victims of the terrorist attack which killed around 100 people the day before, according to local media.

For Mr. Ouédraogo, the keys to success have been intensive preparation and the good selection of players.

“We worked a lot. It’s been six months of work and we have very good players coming out of rugby schools,” he said.

The Rugby Africa Cup Repechage marks the restart of Rugby Africa’s competition program and kicks off the qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2023.

Burundi will compete against Cameroon on 9th June, and Burkina Faso will face Cameroon on 13th June.

21 days to the Barthes Trophy

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NAIROBI, Kenya, June 3, 2021/ — Organized by Rugby Africa, the Barthes U20 Trophy is the official African rugby championship for national teams in the Under 20 age bracket.

This year’s competition will be held at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi from 24 June to 3 July

The Barthes Trophy has unearthed future stars of the African game over the years and continues to serve as a talent identification platform and elite player pathway.

It is held on an annual basis and the winners of the competition earn the right to represent the African continent at the World Rugby Junior Trophy.

In 2019, Kenya hosted and won the competition, defeating the then champions Namibia 21-18. The team went on to finish sixth at that year’s World Rugby Junior Trophy tournament in Brazil.

In early 2020, Rugby Africa granted Barthes Trophy hosting rights to the Kenya Rugby Union for a three-year period until 2022.

Unfortunately, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition could not be held in 2020.

This year’s competition features four teams led by the defending champions Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, and Madagascar.

Team Qhubeka ASSOS motivated for Tour de Suisse

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 4, 2021/ — Team Qhubeka ASSOS will take to the start of the Tour de Suisse, motivated to race well on the home roads of ASSOS of Switzerland, BMC Switzerland and On Running.

The eight-stage race includes two time trials while the six road stages all incorporate a significant amount of climbing meters.

The Tour de Suisse gets underway on Sunday and Team Qhubeka ASSOS will be motivated to perform well during the UCI World Tour event, in front of its numerous key Swiss partners

Team Qhubeka ASSOS has selected a team based upon the hilly terrain and will be led by Domenico Pozzovivo. Joining Pozzovivo will be our Swiss climber, Kilian Frankiny, fresh off the back of completing the Giro d’Italia.

Road captain Simon Clarke will marshal the troops on the road, with Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Nicholas Dlamini, Andreas Stokbro and Connor Brown completing our line-up.

We are grateful to Tyler Haab, who is our next fan to have assisted in announcing one of our race line-ups, with his brilliant video (https://bit.ly/3idLGnn) announcing our roster while cycling up the Col de Galibier.

Alex Sans Vega – Sport Director:”Tour de Suisse is a beautiful race and a very difficult race. If a person is to think of Switzerland then normally, very big mountains are an immediate associated thought of the region. There are many mountains on the parcour this year, even the 2nd time trial has a significant climb, but we are confident in the team we have selected for this race. Our aim is to be active and show ourselves throughout the race, as this will be important for our Swiss partners and our fans in the region.”

Egypt’s Zamalek wins inaugural Basketball Africa League

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KIGALI, Rwanda, May 31, 2021/ — Zamalek (Egypt) Sunday defeated US Monastir (Tunisia) 76-63 to win the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) Championship which took place at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda and was broadcast to fans in 215 countries and territories in 15 languages.

BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall presented Zamalek with the BAL Championship Trophy designed to represent the baobab tree, which is native to Africa and known as the “tree of life” for providing food, water, shelter and protection to people and animals alike.

Following the game, the BAL announced the first recipients of the league’s end-of-season awards, which honor pioneering African NBA Legends Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Manute Bol (South Sudan).

The BAL created the Hakeem Olajuwon BAL Most Valuable Player Award, Dikembe Mutombo BAL Defensive Player of the Year Award and Manute Bol BAL Sportsmanship Award in recognition of their legendary NBA careers and off-court contributions.

Award winners were selected by a panel of sportswriters, broadcasters and NBA team scouts in attendance, with nominees receiving three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. The 12 BAL Head Coaches voted for the Manute Bol BAL Sportsmanship Award. Coaches could not vote for players on their own team. Both the BAL group phase and Playoffs were considered as part of the voting process.

Walter Hodge (Zamalek) was named the Hakeem Olajuwon BAL Most Valuable Player after leading his team to an undefeated 6-0 record with per game averages of 15.5 points, 5.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds.

Anas Osama Mahmoud (Zamalek) was named the Dikembe Mutombo BAL Defensive Player of the Year after recording per game averages of 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.

Makrem Ben Romdhane (US Monastir) received the Manute Bol BAL Sportsmanship Award for exemplifying the ideals of sportsmanship and camaraderie.

Additional awards will be announced tomorrow on the BAL’s social media channels, including the BAL All-First Team, 2021 BAL Scoring Champion and Ubuntu Award, which is awarded to an individual or organization that has made an impact on the local community during the first BAL season.

Olajuwon became the first player from Africa to be drafted into the NBA when he was selected first overall in the 1984 Draft by the Houston Rockets. The two-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame inductee was also named league MVP in 1993-94 when he led the Rockets to the franchise’s first NBA title.

Mutombo won a record-tying four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team six times during his Hall of Fame career. Bol, who passed away in 2010, enjoyed a 10-year NBA career as a 7-7 center and is recognized as one of the most imposing shot-blockers of his generation.

Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the inaugural BAL season. The remaining six teams, which came from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda, secured their participation through BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent in late 2019.

Uganda to face Jamaica in their Repechage opener

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 28, 2021/ — Uganda 7s will get their bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games underway against Jamaica in their opening game of the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco in June.

The games will take place at the Stade Louis II stadium starting on Friday, 18 June with Zimbabwe vs Mexico followed by Uganda vs Jamaica.

With just three weeks to go, World Rugby today confirmed the match schedule for the competition which will feature 12 Women’s and 10 Men’s teams all vying to achieve the ultimate prize of securing the remaining two Women’s and one Men’s team places for Olympic Rugby Sevens in Tokyo, which will take place on 26-31 July.

The Uganda 7 s side will kick off their campaign against Jamaica (18:22 pm local time/7:22pm Uganda time) at Stade Louis II on Friday, 18 June, before facing HongKong (10.06am/11:00 am Uganda time) and France (18:23pm/7:23 pm Uganda time) in further Pool B games on Saturday.Uganda will conclude the Pool stages on Sunday, 20 June against Chile (1:39pm,2:39om Uganda time)

Teams competing in Monaco for the final places available at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be boosted by confirmation that fans will be able to attend the event on 19-20 June.

The revised format for the men’s competition will see two games played on Friday 18 June to maintain player welfare guidelines for World Rugby sevens tournaments.

Organisers have confirmed that 5,000 fans will be able to watch all the action from the second and third days of competition inside the iconic Stade Louis II, subject to maintenance of the current Covid environment.

Fans will be required to wear face masks and respect social distancing.

The boost comes on the day that World Rugby confirmed the match schedule for the competition which will feature 12 women’s and 10 men’s teams all vying to achieve the ultimate prize of securing the remaining two women’s and one men’s team places for Olympic rugby sevens in Tokyo, which will take place on 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium.

The women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia. The men’s tournament will involve Chile, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

View World Rugby Sevens Repechage pools and match schedule

While the action kicks off on Friday 18 June at 18:00 local time with Zimbabwe versus Mexico being the first of two men’s matches that evening, fans are invited to join the festivities in stadium for a packed programme of men’s and women’s matches on day two and three culminating in the two women’s finals and the one men’s final on Sunday evening.

The match schedule has been developed with player welfare at heart. No team will have more than three games in each day, resulting in the two games being organised on Friday evening, accommodating the reduction to 10 teams in the men’s competition. Due to late kick-off times, the two Friday games will be played behind closed doors.

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “With Tokyo 2020 less than three months away, the rugby family is looking forward to what promises to be a special sevens tournament that personifies the togetherness, camaraderie and optimism that characterises these remarkable Olympic Games.

“The Monaco repechage is also symbolic in its own way – a reflection and celebration of sevens international re-emergence from the unprecedented challenges that society and sports people have faced. I know that these players are excited to be representing their nations with the opportunity of qualification for the pinnacle of sevens – the Olympic Games.

“It will be extra special that they get to showcase their skills in front of fans. I would like to thank their Serene Highnesses and the Monegasque Rugby Union for embracing our event and providing the players with the perfect platform to challenge for Tokyo 2020 qualification.”

Lady Cranes XV coach Leonard Lubambula names 30-woman squad

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KAMPALA, Uganda, May 27, 2021/ — Lady Cranes XV coach Leonard Lubambula has today announced the 30-woman squad for the second camp of the national team.

A squad of 32 players was summoned for the first camp in Jinja last week from which two trial games were played.

It is from this camp that players were evaluated for national team selection.

“The selected 30 players are going to drive us to the set goal for this year’s campaign.

The team is a mixture of experienced and new players which gives a solid step into next year’s 2022 campaign that starts the rugby World Cup cycle.”- Coach Leonard Lubambula

Selected team:

Forwards

Patricia Anek-Kitgum queens
Peace Mirembe -Black Pearls
Lyton Nakabugo -Thunderbirds
Faith Namugga -Avengers
Doreen Sijali-Avengers
Salamusida -Black Pearls
Yvonne Najjuma-Thunderbirds
Adongpiny mercy -Kitgum
Winnie Atyang-Thunderbirds 3days
Lydia Namabiro-B Pearls
Teddy Iwutung-Thunderbirds
Zauma Nashuha-Mbale
Maimuna Nasozzi – Avengers
Peace Lekuru-Avengers
Charity Atimango- Thunderbirds
Sarah Kirabo – Avengers
Ayot Mary Gloria- Black Pearls
Angel Zziwa – Avengers

Backs

Masitula Nambozo-Mbale
Racheal Mufuwa -Black Pearl
Rita Naddunga
Julie Nandawula-Avengers
Asha Nakityo-Thunderbirds
Kwagala Diana-Black Pearls friday
Winnie Nabulo-Thunderbirds
Christine Akello-Avengers
Grace Auma – Black Pearls
Samiya Ayikoru – Thunderbirds
Nakuya Agnes – Thunderbirds
Charlotte Mudoola T – BP

Management

Coach Leo Lubambula
Coach Ben Kigongo
Dr. Nelson Mayeku
TM Racheal B.Kakaire

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