Equity Hawks looking to recruit ahead of new season

Following their 3-1 loss to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women’s league final, Equity Hawks head coach David Maina says they will be recruiting ahead of the new season.

KPA came from a match down to win the best-of-five series 3-1 and clinch the title they had lost in the last two seasons to the bankers. This was the dockers’ 15th title.

“This has not been one of the best seasons for Hawks. We have a lot to work on and areas we need to improve. We will start by having the right recruitment so that we are not over dependent on certain players.

KPA dethrone Hawks in cut-throat KBF series

Our rotation in the final could not go well especially in the must-win matches and that made us overwork some players which is not a direction we want to go,” said Maina.

The tactician believes getting the right players, recruited on merit, in each position to supplement the squad they have is the first step to getting back to winning ways.

“We have to look at the weaknesses we had as a team this season and address them. As the technical bench, we felt that some players did not perform to the best of their abilities and this contributed to some of the losses. We will be keen not to bring in players who are a liability to the team,” added Maina.

Additionally, the veteran tactician has called for a change in the running of the league, arguing that the long layoffs end up affecting players’ performance.

“We cannot go for two or more weeks without playing then when, finally, we do it is just one match before another long wait. When such a team gets to the final and are expected to play five matches in eight days, the performance will be affected.

Teams are also affected by the same when we travel for zone five and African competitions and have to play five or more games in a short span. That needs to change,” added Maina.

The tactician was full of praise for coach Sylvia Kamua who took charge of the side this season, with him serving as the overall Equity coach overseeing both Hawks ans Dumas, saying that he expects a better performance from the squad next season as the side will have been accustomed to her style of coaching.