The U.S. Armed Forces Men’s Basketball Team will seek their first Counsel International du Sport Militaire World Basketball Title since 2008 in Mungyeong, South Korea starting Friday.
The team conducted a two-week training camp at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in preparation for the tournament, which concludes Oct. 15.
CISM organizes more than 20 Military World Championships annually for different sports, in which 134 member nations compete with the goal of promoting world peace by uniting their armed services through athletics.
The U.S. team is one of the favorites to win the tournament after capturing the 2014 Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe International Basketball Championship in Belgium. Head coach Tech. Sgt. Ricardo Bachelor, 495th Fighter Wing arm and systems technician at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., is confident the team can meet expectations.
“Some of our guys have played Division I basketball and have played against national and international semi-pro competition,” he said. “CISM is the equivalent to the Olympics so we take it seriously.”
Bachelor will be leaning on 6-foot-6-inch forward Capt. Matthew Holland, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center program manager at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., and two-time SHAPE Most Valuable Player to lead the team back to CISM basketball glory. Holland played in several basketball leagues in Boston in order to stay in shape for training camp and tournament play. He has been selected to the Armed Forces Men’s Basketball Team five times as a result of his outstanding play at the Armed Forces Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“It is very important for us to represent the different services in the Armed Forces well and enter the tournament with a good attitude and play hard,” he said. “We want to be competitive and win.”
His teammate 6-foot-3-inch guard Capt. Evan Washington, AFLCMC project manager at Hill Air Force Base, Utah and also a former AFA player; agreed.
“I would like to come back to my unit, show them my CISM gold medal and have my fellow Airmen be proud of me,” he said.
Bachelor believes the key to bringing the gold back home is to move the ball around and play up-tempo basketball, citing the success of NBA teams whom have used that formula in their favor.
Holland feels the team also has to be scrappy on defense to be successful.
“We have to communicate on the defensive end and be in the right positions to box out and get rebounds,” he said. “Every loose ball has to be ours.”
Bachelor mentioned it would be a “top honor” to be rewarded with a gold medal for the team’s hard work on the court. “I take pride in being afforded the opportunity to coach these guys,” he said.
Holland and Washington also would be honored wearing a gold medal in representation of their country.
“We take pride in wearing the red, white and blue,” said Holland, who noted this year is more than likely his last year playing military basketball. “It would be great to represent my unit by winning a gold medal.”
“Everyone is going into CISM with a chip on their shoulder and looking forward to the chance to represent our country and armed services by winning gold,” Washington added.