The South Sudan Basketball the Bright Stars is set of 2024 Summer Olympic
by Steve Paterno
The South Sudan men’s basketball team, the Bright Stars, are all set for the 2024 Summer Olympic tournament, scheduled in Paris. The result of the draw was announced on March 19, 2024, where the Bright Stars were placed alongside Team USA, Serbia, and Puerto Rico. South Sudan, the newest country in the world, is making its debut in the Summer Olympics as an underdog. The South Sudan team will face tough matches in the group stages. The team is expected to play and beat the teams already in high standing. According to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) world ranking, both Team USA and Serbia ranked number one and four, respectively. And if South Sudan passes the group stage, it will still face stiff competition ahead in the knockout stages against the other teams, which are also ranked high by world standard.
However, Serbia and Puerto Rico are not new to the South Sudan team. Both teams were in Group B, alongside South Sudan and China, in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, held in Manila, Philippines. In that tournament, South Sudan ended up losing to both teams, though. The Bright Stars’ rise into the world’s limelight is as incredible as it is inspiring. Just in less than four years, the team played impressively, going undefeated to qualify into the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Eventually, the team earned a spot to play in the 2024 Olympics. These all showed the team’s resilience, exceptional talents, and passion for the game.
The tournament will kick off on July 27 and will run through August 10. South Sudan will see its first action on July 28, against Puerto Rico. It will play again on July 31 versus Team USA and finish off the group game in August versus Serbia.
The group matches will be played at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, while the knockout phase will be moved to Accor Arena in Paris, while the rest of the world will glue on TV screens to watch the tournament.
Basketball in South Sudan is a relatively poorly growing sport. Almost all the players on the national team play in leagues outside the country. South Sudan Basketball Federation (SSBF), an independent body, which governs the basketball activities and conducts in the country promises to shift its focus to developing local basketball, which see to it that more games are played locally. The government in its part, pledges to pass a legal framework governing sports, develop sports policy, increase expenditure for sports, build infrastructure for sports, and enhance opportunities for commercialization for sports in giving young people something worthy of doing.
With Bright Star now going for the Olympic tournament, it brings a sense of pride to South Sudanese people and invigorates passion for young people around the sport. The country is sure a potential powerhouse for future basketball, given that on an average, South Sudanese are relatively tall people, a physique suitably built to playing the game. This may be the first time ever South Sudan is participating in an Olympic tournament, but with much needed investment in basketball, the country is bound for more Olympic tournaments, again and again. As the Bright Stars would say, “We outdo our limits,” and for sure, the boys are not just going to Paris to showcase their impressive talents but also to “outdo” the staff.