SDAT Clinic in Chennai with JD Walsh

A lot has changed in basketball in India over the last three years, from the new massive IMG-Reliance sponsorship deal to the NBA expanding its operations in the country. But throughout the highs and lows of the development of the game in India over this period, the one constant has been the persistent efforts of American basketball coach JD Walsh in bringing India to the world of basketball... And bringing the world of basketball closer to India!

Over the past week, Walsh completed another crucial four-day clinic in Chennai at the SDAT Stadium from February 2-5. Walsh worked with about 75 youngsters in three different groups: U18 Girls, Boys from all over the state of Tamil Nadu, and a local boys' college team.

"I have been coming to Chennai a couple of times every year for a long time now," said Walsh, "I think the city has a very organised sports culture, especially ingrained in basketball. They have done well in organising events for the whole state of Tamil Nadu. There is a sense of professionalism there, and I'm sure Tamil Nadu's efforts in improving its basketball will continue to show results on the national level."

One of the highlights of the camp was the work that Walsh did with many Tamil Nadu coaches on concepts such as offensive and defensive strategies and helping developing players with their post game.

Walsh contacted Don Casey, former New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Temple (college) basketball coach from the USA over Skype. Casey spoke to the coaches about zone defense and answered their questions. Walsh said: "The Tamil Nadu coaches are very knowledgeable. They were excited about this opportunity and receptive to Casey."

"These are small things necessary to make a difference for basketball in India," Walsh added, "I think we are finally beginning to turn a corner and change is coming to the game here."

Nike Basketball sponsored Walsh's clinic with gear for the coaches.

JD Walsh is the founder of the JDBasketball School, a global enterprise with a mission to each the fundamentals of basketball to youngsters around the world.

Diwali, the JDBASKETBALL way

So Diwali is just about 15 days away, and like every year, you can expect the following things:

1) Fireworks keeping you up until the wee hours of the morning.
2) Fireworks giving your pet nightmares that go on at least until Holi.
3) A laddu/gulab-jamun/barfi/any other Indian sweet overdose.
4) Decorated houses shining proudly all night.
5) Basketball... Much basketball...

That's right, because this Diwali, Delhi hoopers will be getting a special gift: American basketball coach JD Walsh will bring back the JDBASKETBALL clinic to the city to hold a Diwali Vacation Camp on November 6-7 at the American Embassy School (AES) in New Delhi.

The camp will be open to kids in Elementary, Junior High School, High School, and University level, and training for the students will be separated by age and ability.

Email info@jdbasketball.com for more information. Each session of the camp will be limited to 30 participants.

Over the past three years, JDBASKETBALL has operated over 100 clinics in 12 cities to over 5,000 youth throughout India.

I'm guessing there will be no fireworks allowed on court. Except for metaphorical ones.

Indian Coaches to be trained at GMU

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With the recently announced IMG Reliance partnership with the BFI, India seems to be taking some positive strides in developing basketball facilities, infrastructure, and player development, but even the best players will be lost without the right direction. With this in mind, the BFI has also collaborated with jdBasketball and the George Mason University(GMU) to welcome 10 Indian coaches to Vermont, USA, for intense training courses, from July 2-12.

American basketball coaches JD Walsh, Craig Esherick, and Bob Baker have visited Indian in November 2009 and April 2010 to hold coaching clinics and camps for players and coaches. Now, Walsh (who has been at the forefront of promoting basketball training in India for over three years now), Esherick (former head coach of Georgetown University), and Baker (Head of Sports Management at GMU) are set to go through on and off court training that will include discussions of coaching philosophy, nutrition, strategy as well as marketing and organization.

The list of coaches, selected by the BFI, are some of the biggest names in Indian basketball, many of whom are past or present coaches of junior and senior national teams and have represented India as players in the past.

The coaches invited are:

Abdul Hamid Khan.
Aparna Ghosh
Bijender Hooda
Prasanna Jayasankar
Rajesh Patel
Rajinder Singh
Ram Kumar
Shiba. Maggon
Divya Singh
Gour Raghavendra Singh
Yuvika Sharma
Vinod Vacahni

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Milestones in Indian Basketball

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So, I was going through the April 2010 edition of All Sports Magazine (Volume 4, Number 1), which was doing their 3rd anniversary special issue, and the cover feature was 101 Milestones in Indian Sports. The story was about a 101 events that represented the "good, bad, and ugly" development in Indian Sports.

Now here's the travesty... Amongst these 101, the events (justifiably) mentioned were from the following variety of sports: Cricket, Field Hockey, Football, Shooting, Chess, Billiards, Badminton, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling, Mountaineering, Swimming, Golf, Volleyball, Snooker, Cycling, Weightlifting, Boxing, Table-Tennis, and Formula One Racing.

Look at that list again, and if you're a basketball fan, shake your head in dissapointment. There hasn't been a basketball milestone (good or bad) in our sporting history memorable enough to be mentioned in this vast list? Unfortunately, I can't even argue against their decision to omit Indian hoops, because tragic as it may sound, the reality is that there have been no singular events in basketball here to top the other milestones mentioned by the magazine.

So, instead, I've decided to make my own, very short list of Milestones in Indian Basketball. Feel free to add any major events that I may have missed.

The rules of Basketball were first devised in 1891 by the Canadian physician Dr. James Naismith. India were actually one of the earliest countries to adopt the game and start playing it in 1930.

1930: Basketball first played in India.
1934: The first Indian National Championship for men is held in New Delhi.
1936: The Indian National Team (The Young Cagers) become a member of FIBA.
1950: The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is formed.
1975: The Men's National team finished fourth in the FIBA Asia Championship in Bangkok, the highest finish for India in the men's division.
1980: The Men's National team participated in the Moscow Olympics but finished last in the tournament.
1981: The FIBA Asia Championship was held in Calcutta, India finished fifth.
2007: The JDBasketball School begins to promote and teach basketball around India.
2008: NBA legend Robert Parish comes to India, ushering a flurry of activity of the NBA's interest in the country.
2009: NBA inaugurates basketball courts in India and launches the NBA-India website.
2009: The FIBA Asia Championship for Women was held in Chennai, India finished 6th.
2010: The Mahindra-NBA Challenge begins in Mumbai.

Early on, with basketball growing at such a quick pace in India, the game produced several notable talents. Many basketball stars in India have since been awarded the Arjuna Award (to recognize the contribution of a player and his outstanding achievement in sports) and the Dhyan Chand Award (for Life Time Achievement in Sports and Games has been instituted from the year 2002 to honour those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career).

Arjuna Award

SARABJIT SINGH (Services) - 1961
KHUSHI RAM (Services) - 1967
GURDIAL SINGH (Services) - 1968
HARI DUTT (Services) - 1969
ABBAS MOONTASIR (Maharashtra & Railways) - 1970
MANMOHAN SINGH (Punjab & Services) - 1971
SURINDER K. KATARIA (Rajasthan & Railways) - 1973
ANIL PUNJ (Punjab) - 1974
HANUMAN SINGH (Rajasthan & Railways) - 1975
VIJAYRAGHVAN (Tamil Nadu & Bihar) - 1977
OM PRAKASH (Sr.) (Services) - 1979
AJMER SINGH (Rajasthan & Railways) - 1981
RADHEY SHYAM (Services) - 1982
SUMAN SHARMA (Punjab) - 1983
SAJJAN SINGH CHEEMA (Punjab) - 1999
PARMINDER SINGH (Sr.) (Punjab) - 2001

Dhyan Chand Award

APARNA GHOSH (West Bengal & Railways) - 2001
RAM KUMAR (Railways) - 2002

Unfortunately, our domestic successes and interest has never translated into international recognition. From the late 60s and early 80s, there were many talented ball players that featured in the Indian hoops scene.

There is only one woman on the Arjuna awards list - Suman Sharma in 1983. With our women's team showing drastic improvements in recent years, there is no doubt that many more female players will be given this distinction in the future.

The newly-launched Mastan League, India's first fully professional basketball league, which is currently taking place at the Mastan YMCA in Mumbai, has the promise to usher bigger events for Indian basketball. I wonder if it will also be remembered as a major milestone in the future...

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'Hoops for Health' hoping to make a difference beyond sport

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Sport is one of the best ways to unite people together. Whether it was the 2004 Indian cricket team's "Friendship Tour" of Pakistan following years of mistrust of the Kargil war, or the conflict-ridden Palestine hosting its first ever international football game in 2008, sport can provide a way to rehabilitate those in need, find common ground between conflicting cultures, and provide a healthy, competitive alternative to the harsher realities of life.

One such effort has been by the 'Hoops for Health' basketball school that has been making a difference in the lives children under extremely hostile conditions in Kashmir, breaking language, cultural, and national barriers. There is no better way to rehabilitate some of these youngsters who have already been through atrocities in their young lives than through lessons and activities of sport. The project is a collaboration between basketball school jdBasketball and independent, non-profit organization Child Nurture and Relief (CHINAR).

jdBasketball is the brainchild of American basketball coach and entrepreneur JD Walsh, who has spent several years in India coaching basketball as well as using the game as a vehicle for social change.

CHINAR is an organization working for the psychosocial rehabilitation of orphaned and vulnerable children in conflict areas. They operate in the conflicted Kashmir area with a mission to "to provide a stable and nurturing environment for children in need, which encourages and equips them to reach their highest potential and effectively meet challenges in life."

In 2007, CHINAR began working with the jdBasketball to conduct a 3 year basketball programme, 'Hoops for Health'. The event garnered national attention, bringing to light the problem and this new innovation solution for social change. Hoops for Health was awarded the Nike/Ashoka Foundation Changemaker Award for using basketball to affect social change in their community.

This year, 'Hoops for Health' has been entered into nomination for the Beyond Sport awards. Beyond Sport is a global organisation that promotes, develops and funds the use of sport to create positive social change across the world - the awards programme provides support worth $1 million annually to projects across the world that use sport to address issues within their communities.

For their work in Kashmir, 'Hoops for Health' has been entered for awards in two categories: the Sport for Health Award and the UNICEF Sport for Education Award. Please click on these links to comment your support on jdBasketball-Chinar.org's efforts.

Other entries from India in the Beyond Sport categories this year are Rural Challengers- an audacious initiative and Project Green Hands

The last date for the 2010 Beyond Sport Awards entries is April 16, 2010. A shortlist of the nominations will be revealed in May, and the winners of the awards will be unveiled at the Beyond Sport Summit from September 27-30 2010 in Chicago.

Dikembe Mutombo, Former NBA Player and Founder, Dikembe Mutomobo Foundation: "Meeting all the inspirational people behind the sport and development projects shortlisted for the Beyond Sport Awards was a truly memorable experience. If we can get more people to follow the lead of these initiatives that we saw first-hand at the Summit then we can create real social impact across the world."

I've closely followed JD Walsh's efforts in India and hope that his work with CHINAR and the children in Kashmir can be boosted with much-needed support if the programme is to win a Beyond Sport Award.

Read about JD Walsh's Slumdog Basketball initiative in the Mumbai slums.

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jdBasketball returns to India

Basketball school jdBasketball, run by coach and entrepreneur JD Walsh, is returning to India next month. As part of a programme sponsored by the US Department of State, jdBasketball will host training camps in Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai.

Additionally, jdBasketball will be partnered by the Centre of Sports Management of the George Mason University, where the basketball programme is overseen by assistant professor of sport management Craig Esherick (former assistant basketball coach and scout for the 1988 U.S. Men's Olympic basketball team).

These are the tentative plans for the tour:

Chennai: April 7-10, with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.
Bangalore: April 10-15, Men's National Team training.
Mumbai: April 16-18, jdBasketball camp and clinic.