Slingers need new long term direction to establish local fan base

By Ian Chew

Vastly superior home team. Yawning crowds (except for visiting Philippines teams, in which case the stadium fills up with Filipinos). Changing team rosters.

These are some of the features I have come to expect from watching recent Slingers matches.

Just take the last match Slingers played with the Indonesian champions Britama for example. Although the Britama head coach claimed they came for a win, it was hardly believable as they played with a strategy to limit their losses as much as possible. In the end, their tactics hardly mattered as they were hammered by the Slingers.

I do understand the rationale of the Slingers organisation in inviting teams from different neighbouring countries to show the possibilities of an ASEAN league. But a lop-sided scoreline does not make for very entertaining viewership. (Although I must say I thoroughly admired the professionalism of the Slingers team in maintaining their levels of play in spite of the weak opposing teams.)

Here lies the impetus for the establishment of a league urgently, or an announcement of any concrete steps towards the development of an upcoming Asian or ASEAN league. (To win big against fellow teams within a league works towards the goal of clinching the title, but to crush visiting weaker teams in friendly games does not do much.)

Yet if the Indonesian head coach’s comments is anything to go by, there is hope yet for the league to form.

“Of course we are excited about playing in a possible Asean league. It will represent a raising of basketball standards within the region,” said Fictor Roring, head coach of Satria Muda Britama.

An Asean league featuring the best professional teams in the region, especially the talented Philippines teams, will be an exciting future prospect for local fans.

Another strange sight for regular fans were the appearances (and disappearances!) of new Slingers players with alarming regularity. Apart from Pathman who is the only consistent Singaporean player, we see cameo appearances of other local players. Who are they? On what basis are they playing for the best professional basketball outfit in Singapore? Can we expect them on a permanent basis?

Unlike some quarters, I am under no illusion of the need for a predominantly Singaporean Slingers team. Being a professional team, it should be given the leeway to recruit the best players it can find for the team.

However it would make good business sense to include a couple of Singaporean players to build a local fan base, not to mention some local pride especially when playing against foreign teams.

One way the Slingers could reach out to local basketball enthusiasts is conduct a selection trial for promising young basketball players to join the team. A brief look at the local youth scene and especially the recent adidas Nations selections proves that the local scene is alive and kicking. It would be equally prestigious if selected local players could be invited for training with the Slingers with a long term view to signing a player’s contract.

This would help develop local interest as the current policy of drafting of local youth players into the Slingers team seem rather opaque. Promising young players would then aspire to make it through the selections and the Slingers can also be seen to be reaching out to the grassroots, which will only do well to build their fan base. Cultivating the hope among local youths of one day being able to play in the Slingers team will be a key winning strategy.

On the other hand, the Singapore basketball authorities would be wise to welcome such overtures. The Slingers organisation represent the best hope of improving local playing standards as our talented youths mingle and imbue the good habits and work ethic of the superior Slingers players. Who knows, the development of basketball standards will even start earlier at a young age as local youths see the viability of pursuing basketball as a career.

These observations are not meant to tear down but to help improve the Slingers ship as well as local basketball standards. A credible local team playing in an exciting regional league will do wonders in livening up the Singapore basketball scene.

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