Whodunit Wednesday: Belgian basketball players

Soon the European Championships basketball will be starting - the championships for the men. Djokic, Giannis and more will be playing for their countries. The ladies already had their championship  and the Belgian ladies won. The Belgian men will have a much harder time. This is because most of their best players are playing in the NBA and will not be able to take part in the Championship due to commitments or injuries. 

On the ladies side, you might not know Emma Meeseman, Julie van Loo or Julie Allemand, but you will probably be familiar with Ajay Mitchell. Mitchell plays for the Thunder and won the NBA championships with his team. The other well-known player is Toumani Camara, who plays for the Trailblazers. More importantly, Belgium has been losing its players to college teams. 

Belgium and the Netherlands do not have a system like the US. There is no high school basketball and no college basketball. Players who are good are scouted at a young age and may join the youth training of a national team (like Oostende or Antwerp Giants). But more recently players have been scouted and recruited by college teams in the US. This gives the players a better opportunity and training. They get more playing time and more opportunity to break through into the NBA. 

Players like Retin Obasohan, who played for Alabama, or Manu Lecomte, who found a home in Texas, are able to earn money, get an education and build on a career in basketball all at the same time. Stephan Dibongue Swenson replaced Ajay Mitchell at point guard for UC Santa Barbara. Some players have played under coach Brian Lynch, who happens to be the husband of Belgian tennis star of old, Kim Clijsters. As a meter of fact, Clijster's daughter Jada is now playing for the young Belgian national team. 

Basketball seems to have become quite the national sport in Belgium. They also have a good 3x3 team, although it is the Dutch 3x3 team that has won all of the championships and medals in recent years. So the next time you are watching your favorite basketball team, whether during March Madness or the NBA, WNBA or Olympics, pay attention to the Belgian names (which do not always look very Belgian). 

Sport and fellowship

This past weekend was full of fun and fellowship. Saturday was a sport day organized by August. August is barely 10 years old, but he knows that it is good to get together with friends. So he had asked his mother last Fall if he could organize a sport day. I like getting to pay sports recreationally and getting to know the young people that I see at camp better. Plus I wanted to encourage August, so I went last year and had a great time. 

This past Saturday August held the 2nd version and the 3rd one is already planned for the Spring. We had about 20 people there to play basketball and a little bit of soccer. We took time to stop and sing together and thank God for the time together. There was plenty of time to sweat, talk, laugh and enjoy. I am already looking forward to the one in the Spring and getting some of the young people from our side of the country to go as well. 

The evening before all the sweating at the sport day we were home for our monthly singing. Every first Friday of the month is singing. We used to do this at the building, but it has become easier for now to do it at our house. This month we had some guests from the church in Eindhoven and we all enjoyed singing some Christmas songs and paying attention to the real reason for the season. I love singing, but the time afterwards, filled with conversation, is just as encouraging. 

On Sunday, since it was the 2nd Sunday of the month, we had some members stay afterwards to play games. We had had 3 visitors for services and were also able to welcome several members back who had not been in quite some time. Praise God for grace and compassion and hearts that long to be with God. We are so very thankful for the opportunities that God gives us to fellowship, to have fun and to encourage one another. 

Whodunit Wednesday: The ladies of sport

This will be quite the summer of sport. The European Cup (men’s soccer) is being held in Germany in from the middle of June to the middle of July. About two weeks later the Olympics start in Paris. And of course the normal summer sports are also taking place: the Tour de France, Wimbledon and more. 

Women’s basketball is big news in the US recently with Caitlin Clark, but it has also been big news in Belgium for the last few years. The Belgian Cats (the woman’s national basketball team) grabbed the bronze medal at the European Championships in 2021 and then won the European championships last year, beating favorite Spain. 

In the last Olympics in Tokyo, the Cats lost out to Japan. This year they are also in the group with the US, Japan and Germany. But they will depend on two players who have also been making a name for themselves in the WNBA: Emma Meesseman and Julie Vanloo. 

Emma was crowned WNBA champion with the Washington Mystics in 2019. Since 2022 she has played for Chicago Sky. Julia Vanloo, a 3-point specialist, has joined the Washington Mystics this year and has already made her mark. 

In athletics, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been making recent news in the 400 meter and 400 meter hurdles. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the hurdles. But she will have to deal with Femke Bol who has taken the spotlight more recently. Bol won the bronze medal in Tokyo to Machlaughlin’s gold. But in 2023 Bol has taken all of the indoor medals and records, leading up to an exciting showdown at the Olympics this summer. 

In gymnastics, all eyes will of course continue to be on Simone Biles. But in Belgium,

everyone still knows Nina Derwael. She has taken gold medals (even from Simone Biles) on the beam and especially on the bars. She was world champion in 2018 and 2019 and took the first gold medal for Belgium in gymnastics in Tokyo. She even has a new element named after her. 

Stephan - the champ!

Stephan - the champ!
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

Stephan came home yesterday looking a bit different. This season his basketball team had decided that if they won the championship they would shave their heads.

As the end of the season came into view this promise became a bit more serious - they hadn't lost a single game. The next to last game they lost (their only loss!) to the second-place team. This meant they had to wait for one more game before knowing if they were champs or not.

Well, last night they were crowned (can you say that with a head like that?) champions. Click on the picture to see a few more pictures of Stephan's new style.