Basketball tournament at the National Games set to tip off Friday

The 34th National Games 2011, set in Jharkhand, is being held from February 12-26th in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, and Dhanbad, as intimated by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). With over 30 different sporting events taking place, the tournament is featuring some of the best Indian athletes in the different fields.


The Basketball tournament at the National Games is set to be held from February 18th-22nd at the Harivansh Tana Bharat Indoor Stadium at the Mega Sports Complex in Ranchi. The tournament will feature the seven best teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions from the previous year’s Sr. National Basketball Championship, plus the team representing the state that host’s the tournament. Indian Railways are excluded from this tournament.

Thus, the top ranked teams from the 60th National Basketball Championship (Ludhiana) that will take part in this year’s tournament. Hosts Jharkhand qualify automatically as the eight seed in both divisions.

Men

1. Punjab
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Uttarakhand
4. Services
5. Andhra Pradesh
6. Chhattisgarh
7. Karnataka
8. Jharkhand

Women

1. Delhi
2. Chhattisgarh
3. Karnataka
4. Kerala
5. Tamil Nadu
6. Punjab
7. Maharashtra
8. Jharkhand

The last National Games were held back in February 2007 in Guwahati (Assam). Services (Men) and Tamil Nadu (Women) were the winners of the basketball tournament at this competition.

North East: It's the Games, not the Festival

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Read an interesting article in The Telegraph this morning about the 24th North-East Games currently being held in Shillong. The Games, which were previously known as the 'North-East Sports Festival', have had a change of name in hope to be taken more seriously and recognized by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Unfortunately, like everything in mainstream India about the North-East, the sporting issues relating to those eight states continue to be taken lightly.

The Meghalaya State Olympic Association has appealed to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to take necessary steps to get the North East Games recognised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the North Eastern Council directly associated with it.
Speaking to The Telegraph on the sidelines of the ongoing 24th North East Games here, Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) general secretary D. Syiemlieh said the annual meet was yet to shed its “festival” tag primarily because it is not recognised by the IOA.
“It was a welcome initiative when it was rechristened North East Games instead of the erstwhile North East Sports Festival. However, the attitude of the organisers as well as the participants unfortunately remained as amateurish as before,” Syiemlieh observed.
“Unless it is recognised by the IOA and the state Olympic associations are involved, the attitude of the participants will not change because the medals and certificates in this meet are till now just ornamental. The SAI should take immediate steps to get it recognised by the IOA and get it organised more professionally,” he added.
The meet is now organised by the state directorates of sports or the state sports councils with partial funding from SAI. The state sports associations are involved in selecting the state teams and technical conduct only.

The North-East states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura - can be developed into essential breeding grounds for athletic talent in India. Already, a great many of our football stars have hailed from that region. It is sad to here words such as "the attitude of the participants will not change because the medals and certificates in this meet are till now just ornamental": the mainstream media, too, has to give more respect to that part of our country instead of treating them like our illegitimate step brothers.
The states have been competing against each other in Football, Badminton, Table Tennis, Basketball, Boxing, Wushu, Karate, and other events.

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BFI: It wasn't me

Following basketball star Geethu Anna Jose's "ban" from being able to in a professional league in Australia (as reported on TimesNow.tv), I wrote an article on my blog protesting against Geethu's plight, called How to suppress your superstars - 101. This article was also published on SportsKeeda.com.

The TimesNow.tv article mentioned this: "... the Indian Olympic Association has denied permission since Geethu is also the captain of the Indian women's Basketball team. According to the explanation given by the IOA, the Basketball Federation of India is supposed to organise a National camp during the same time."



It didn't take long for a response to my article: the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) made a press release just three days later refuting the blame for denying Geethu from playing in Australia.

The release, posted by former women's national team captain Divya Singh reads something like this:

Basketball federation of India refutes the blame of denying their National player for playing in Australia.
One of the recently published articles stated that Geethu Anna Jose, an outstanding and highly reputed International Basketball Player of the country was denied the opportunity to train and play in the Big V Women’s program in Australia from 15th February to mid August, 2010 by the Ringwood Basketball Association, Victoria, Australia by the Basketball Federation of India.
BFI clarifies that Jose sent her E-mail to the Federation at 8:42 PM on 25th January, 2010. The 26th January, 2010 being a National Holiday the office was closed. Her permission to participate in the above program in Australia was given on 27th January, 2010 addressed to Head Women’s Coach Ringwood Basketball Association Inc, Australia by Email and a copy of the letter was also forwarded to Geethu by Email.

“We never deny any player, until unless it comes to our commitment towards the nation” says, Harish Sharma, Genl secy BFI.
In few months Geethu, a member of the Indian team, will be representing at the reputed Asian Games. Basketball Federation of India is planning the National Coaching Camp and Foreign Exposure for the Men & Women teams in order to prepare Indian teams for the Asian Games this year where it is mandatory for the selected players to participate in the Coaching Camps & Foreign Exposure prior to their respective International participation and the Asian Games.
In such cases, BFI always considers National interest, and it is expected of every player selected, to attend the National Coaching Camps for the preparation of International events. Basketball is a team game and the whole team needs to practice together for the work-outs on offensive as well as defensive strategies & team coordination.

I applaud the BFI if they really did give permission to Geethu to join the team in Australia. But if the BFI isn't stopping her, then why is she still here?

I wholeheartedly agree that national interest should stand above all, but it shouldn't come in the way of player progress if possible. Geethu had been quoted saying that her league season in Australia would end three months before the Asian Games, giving her ample time to practice with the team. In situations like these, doesn't she deserve to go and improve her skills abroad?

I was finally able to contact Geethu and get her side of the story.

This is what Geethu said about the issue: "... About the Australian league: What really happened was, finally [the BFI] gave me the permission to go, but also they said i have to be back for this Asian games camp going to be held at next month."

What she means is this: the BFI did allow Geethu to go, but expected her back much too early, and for her to return in a month would mean that she misses a large part of her professional season with the Ringwood Hawks in Australia.

Geethu was, after all, the top scorer in all of Asia (!!) during the FIBA Women's Asian Basketball Championships in Chennai in November. Pardon me for thinking that she deserves a lot more respect and recognition for her efforts.

These questions remain to be answered for the conflict to be fully resolved. But this is just a start of such conflicts - if we are hoping that Indian players improve their quality of play, then they will eventually be wooed by better basketball leagues in other countries - Australia, Europe, and hopefully in my lifetime, the NBA. Will this be a reoccuring situation every time our players want to head out of India?

Indian federations / associations need to learn from incidents such as those of Geethu and, of course, from the problems faced by our only Olympic individual gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who was involved in a tussle with the NRAI.

Based on the opinion of most of the players and coaches I have spoken to, the BFI's General Secretary Harish Sharma seems to be determined in helping promote basketball in India the right way. He should be thanked for his swift response to this issue, but I feel that there is a long way to go before we have a smooth system of dealing with these complicated issues.

How to suppress your superstars - 101

If you have been keeping up with Indian basketball, then you would no doubt be familiar with the name Geethu Anna Jose. The 24-year-old captain of the Indian Women's National team is the most talented basketball player in the country and one of the best in all of Asia.

And if you have really been following recent basketball news in India, you would have heard about the recent atrocity committed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOC), who barred Geethu from playing in a professional league in Australia.

From TimesNow.TV:

In yet another incident that has shamed Indian sports, top basketball player Geethu Anna Jose has being barred from playing in a professional League in Australia. Geethu has been invited by Ringwood Hawks a professional basketball club based in Australia to represent their side in the league.

The club wants Geethu to join the team as early as the February 15 and stay back till the league ends in August.
However, the Indian Olympic Association has denied permission since Geethu is also the captain of the Indian women's Basketball team. According to the explanation given by the IOA, the Basketball Federation of India is supposed to organise a National camp during the same time.
But, Geethu believes that having participated in the Australian league before, another stint there will prepare her better for the Asian Games rather than attending a national camp.
She said, "I am so unhappy that my country is not allowing me to participate in the Australian League. I have written to the Basketball Federation but they have not given me any permission. I am still hoping that they will change their mind. I am sure that I will be able to play for the Australian League between February and August, come back to India, prepare for 3 months and play the Asian Games."

She is absolutely right! The hopes of all those involved in promoting basketball in India lie on building on the successes of talented, marketable individuals. Geethu is exactly that. She was the top scorer for the FIBA Women's Asian Basketball Championships in Chennai in November. She has already played three seasons with the lower league Ringwood Hawks (the only Indian to ever play pro in Australia), bagging a league MVP award in 2008. She was even selected to play for the Dandenong Rangers, which is a top-division WNBL team in Australia, but "personal reasons" kept her from ever suiting up for them.

Geethu's big break came during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where she turned heads in an otherwise-lowly Indian squad, putting up an impressive and eye-catching performance. The Indian Women finished sixth.

The young girl (did I mention she's just 24!) has serious skills: if it is marketable stars are what we claim we need, then we don't need to look any further than this talented Kerelan. Letting Geethu have success and acclaim abroad, and then welcoming her back with support by the media, the IOC, and the BFI support will help put a face to the sport in India, just like Saina Nehwal did for Badminton, Sania Mirza did for Tennis, and PT Usha did for Track & Field.

Obviously, playing at a higher, more competitive level will only benefit Geethu as a growing player. She still has potential to be better, and as she said in her statement above, she will have three months after the season in Australia to return home and prepare for the November Asian Games in China.



Earlier, in an interview for The Hindu, Geethu even went as far as saying, "I’ve started modelling too in a small way... Earlier, the game was glamorous, now we have to be glamorous to attract the crowd and sponsors."

It is a pity that India's most talented basketball player had to say these words, but when the system works in such a nonsensical way, can we really question her?

To the Olympic Associations around the world, if you're watching, then learn: this is how to suppress a superstar talent.

Also published on SportsKeeda.com