Fourway’s Yanda named player of the year at St John’s College awards

From the courts of Fourways to national courts, Yanda Peter (18) is taking the basketball world by storm.

Yanda has had an amazing basketball season, which culminated in him being named Player of the Year at the St John’s College basketball awards.

Yanda, who was also the vice-captain of the St John’s College 1st team basketball was named in the All-Star teams at more than six tournaments. These include the Inanda Hoops, the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ), and the Africa Grassroots Hoops U19 Classic basketball tournaments.

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Further to this, he was named the Most Valuable Player at the King’s College Linbro basketball tournament. The St John’s College 1st team also had a successful season winning two tournaments and getting a silver medal at another three tournaments.

Yanda expressed gratitude for the recognition he had received. “This is a huge honour and recognition of my hard work and dedication to the game. This motivates me as a player to strive for better achievements. I wasn’t able to achieve this without my teammates and supporters; they believed in me and my game. I appreciate everyone for recognising me.”

Yanda credits his teammates and coaches for the success he has had over the past few seasons. He mentioned his club coach at Sandton Bulls, Ronald ‘Vipes’ Andongndou, his Gauteng provincial coach, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Bukweya, and his school coach, Clemen Kok as being influential in fostering his love for the game and helping him improve.

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He added his proudest moment this past season was leading his school team to a come-from-behind victory in the final of the AISJ tournament earlier this year.
With aspirations to further his basketball career in the United States, Yanda hopes to secure a scholarship to a top college after completing his matric this year.

Yanda’s advice to young basketball players is: “You have to practice a lot to improve your game. I make sure to practice regularly and work on my weaknesses.”

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Accolades for Yanda in tournaments he has played in this season:

• All-Star selection and Champions – SA U18 Interprovincial tournament.
• All-Star selection – Africa Grassroots Hoops U19 Classic.
• Finalist – Eagles Club League U18 division.
• MVP and champions – King’s College Linbro basketball tournament.
• Finalist – St Peter’s College tournament.
• Quarter-finalist – Kearsney College tournament.
• All-Star selection and finalist – Inanda Hoops tournament.
• All-Star selection and champions – AISJ tournament.
• All-Star selection and finalist – St John’s College basketball tournament.

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