"One of the most important questions of the day is which division our U16 women's national team will participate in. It is not easy to make this decision."
This was said by Evren Alkaya, the head coach of national basketball teams, who was a guest of Idman Bizde.
The expert commented on the possibility of our U-16 team, which won the Division C of the European Championship for 2 years, participating in Division B next season. According to him, it is necessary to fulfill many requirements: "To participate in Divisions B or A, there must be very good teams in lower age groups. Many of the national teams competing in these leagues have more than 20-30 clubs. These clubs hold 60-70 matches between themselves throughout the year and the players grow. Today, it would be suicide for us to decide to play in Division B. Even though you have very good basketball players, you can't be successful in this division just by training. You have to play very hard games. "We won Division C, why don't we go to the B?" I don't think the question is correct. It is the right step to go when we are ready when a strong generation is born. Because we represent Azerbaijan. We do not represent a club there. The obtained results often cause motivation or demotivation in our country. Many people "mourn" when we lose. As if nothing had been done. But a lot of work has been done by both women and men. As successes are applauded, failures are taken for granted. I think it is necessary to go to the right place at the right time and with the right athletes."
Alkaya said that it is too early for the European Champion U16 team to participate in Division B: "The decision of the federation is also important. But as a specialist, it would be more appropriate for our female basketball players born in 2010-11 to start from the B division. Because those players will be ready for it. Leyla Allahverdiyeva and Sitara Abbasova, who appeared very little in our team last year, took part in the European Championship symbolic dream team. Until the last day, Leyla's efficiency was very high and she contributed a lot to get the title. This is how these players developed in 1 year. Imagine that you find physically better-prepared athletes than these girls. Then we can participate in B Division and fight for A. If we can be patient, I think the U16 age group should compete in Division B. In this case, the results should not be considered, we should pay attention to the development of children. But our country has a somewhat sensitive approach to this issue. U-16 must play in Division C for 1 more year in order not to fail both sides. But the girls' U-18 national team must participate in the B division next season."
Azerbaijan’s U-16 national team won the Division C for the second time in a row in Gibraltar.
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
