Ramon Santos Lantigua
Santo Domingo, March 3. The Dominican Republic are experiencing ‘basketball fever’ after their side’s recent win over Argentina earned them their third straight World Cup berth and will result in more financial support for the Dominican Republic. ‘National team.
Fernando Teruel, for many years the coach of the Dominican team and who has the merit of having been the first to coach professionally Antonio “Chicho” Sibilio, who shone with the Spanish team Barcelona, spoke to EFE of what this “incredible” and Taugrés Vitoria, as well as Alfred Horford, the first Dominican to play in the American NBA and father of Al Horford, of the Boston Celtics.
For Teruel, the qualification for the World Cup will motivate many young people in the Dominican Republic to practice basketball, consolidate an effort accumulated for years and “stimulate” the business community to provide greater financial support to the National team.
He added that last Sunday’s victory in Mar de Plata (Argentina) is the result of work in the lower categories, Dominican players recruited abroad and “the abundance of talent” in national tournaments such as Saint -Domingue, Santiago (north of the country) and San Pedro de Macorís (east).
“Without a doubt, after this extraordinary victory over a rival of the level of Argentina, sponsorships will increase because there are many market studies that indicate the advantages of investing in basketball (…) There will even be international companies that will be interested in contributing to the national jacket,” said Teruel.
For the also physical educator, qualifying for the World Cup has sparked “basketball fever” in the Dominican Republic as “a lot of people” are starting to see the sport as they see baseball, with an “infinite” future to play for. to forge economic and educational hopes in the United States.
“In the particular case of basketball, this extends to Europe, to countries like Spain, where there has already been a respectable presence of Dominicans, among whom the recent addition of Jean Montero stands out, the versatile and young player, who was one of the heroes of the victory over the Argentines”, he added.
Montero, 19, scored 22 points in the second half of the game to become a vital piece in the triumph of the team led by Argentine Néstor “Che” García. The Dominican joined Spanish side Real Betis in two matches earlier this season.
“I think not only baseball is a country brand, but also basketball, which could not be outdone and now it is showing it again with its third consecutive World Cup ticket (…) Today the whole world is talking about the victory for the Dominican Republic, it’s extraordinary,” he said.
According to him, Dominican NBA players like Horford, Chris Duarte and Karl-Anthony Towns, of Dominican mother, will be “interested” in making the Dominican team before the team is finally structured for the Cup. world that it will take place between August and September in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The three have already worn the uniform with the tricolor team.
“The (Dominican) government, businesses, practice in minor categories, the work of the (basketball) Federation are promoting an interesting national movement with the celebration of tournaments in all the provinces of the country, to which we must add the strengthening scientific training programs for talented players and the training of coaches and referees,” commented Teruel.
In fact, according to the EnHogar-2022 survey by the National Statistics Office of the Dominican Republic, basketball has overtaken baseball as the most played sport in the country: 30.2% of respondents prefer to play basketball -ball against 29.3% who opt for baseball. EFE
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