Montana Vikings returned home from the Soweto Basketball Uprising as champions last week.

The festival and tournament took place in Gauteng from Friday June 14 to Wednesday June 19.

The Montana Vikings under-18 boys’ team defeated the defending champions, Soweto Academy, 63-45. The Soweto Academy has won the tournament for four consecutive years.

“One of the reasons we went to play in the Soweto Basketball Uprising was to play against the best in this country,” said Shafiek Allie, Montana Vikings chairman and junior boys’ coach.

He said one of the things that helped the club succeed at the tournament was the ability to adapt to the rules, which differ in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

He said they hoped the tournament would be a learning experience and they did not expect to win it.

A loss early in the tournament was also the wake-up call they needed to step up their game.

Coach Allie said playing outside Cape Town was one of his goals as a coach.

“I think we didn't realise how big this was, not only for Vikings but Cape Town; there is no other team in Cape Town that has gone to play against clubs that are that good in Johannesburg. So the win wasn't a Vikings win, but a Cape Town win.”

Coach Allie said he was overwhelmed by messages of support from other basketball clubs across Cape Town. He said the next step after winning the Soweto Basketball Uprising, was to take his team to America to experience some of the best basketball in the world.

“I have varsity basketball coaches approaching me for our matriculants to offer them scholarships, and that was the ultimate goal, to be seen by universities that are outside Cape Town.”

One of the Vikings players, Joshua Scott, said they went up to Soweto for the challenge and were ready to get the job done as a team.

“We left our mark in Soweto, I hope we are going back next year to defend the title.”

Another player, Khwezi Saki, said it was terrifying to play away from home, where the crowd is against you.

“This win means so much to us as a team, all the hard work we put in shows, it showed up there in Soweto when we were playing the finals. It showed that we came to practices and we did our job, and when we do our job this is what we can achieve.”

He said the win will inspire them to work even harder.

Egide Nsabiyumva said the win was not only for Vikings but for the Western Cape and all the people who supported them.

“We went there with the mentality to win, but when we played our first game it was hard for us mentally. The atmosphere was really crazy, no one supported us. But that couldn't stop us till we reached the finals,” said Nsabiyumva.

Allie described Montana Vikings Basketball Club as a cornerstone of local communities, serving the areas of Montana, Charlesville, Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Valhalla Park.

Montana Vikings Basketball club celebrating their victory as champions of the Soweto Basketball Uprising tournament. Picture: Jan Verboom/Vikings Basketball club