Maties plays basketball in UCT jerseys

A Matie stays a Matie, even though they are playing basketball in jerseys of the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Stellenbosch University’s (SU) basketball team recently showed that even though Maties and UCT might be rivals on the sports field , it should not stand in the way of good sportsmanship.

The team from UCT wore dark uniforms instead of the necessary required light uniforms in a Men’s first league game played on Cape Tech’s courts. Doug Chetty, UCT basketball coach, explains: “We would have had to forfeit the game except for the great sportsmanship of the Stellenbosch basketball team. We exchanged jerseys with them for the game and played in Stellenbosch’s jersey and they played in UCT’s jerseys, which we appreciated tremendously.”

Taamba Iithete, chairman of the Maties basketball team, says: “We heard that they weren’t allowed to play because of their jerseys, so we offered to let them play in ours. All of the guys were willing to put aside the rivalry and help the guys from UCT out.”

Chetty says: “Whereas there is rivalry amongst the universities, it is also very nice to see a certain camaraderie.”