Kerala Basketball: Southern Supremacy

Two months ago, India’s most talented and most recognisable basketball player, Geethu Anna Jose, conquered new ground: Jose became the first Indian to be invited for trials with the WNBA. After trying out with three teams, Jose came back with no signed contract but with a story to tell and an example to be followed. On the way, the Kottayam-born superstar also continued to cement her name as the brightest basketball product out of the Southern Indian state of Kerala.

Fortunately for Keralites, the young faces of female basketball from the state are proving that the future of basketball in the state will continue to shine brightly as the present does.

Last week, the Kerala Junior (U18) Girls’ basketball team went undefeated through the Junior National Basketball Championship in Delhi to win the gold medal. This achievement had come less than two months after the Kerala Youth (U16) Girls’ side clinched gold at the Youth National Basketball Championship in Nagpur. It was Déjà vu in both these competitions, because the Youth and Junior champions a year ago were also Kerala Girls.

“Basketball is very well-organised in Kerala,” said Jose Philip, the coach of 2011 Junior Nationals winning side, “A great job is done in honing the young crop of players. There are dozens of basketball tournaments at school level and more held annually around the state. Young players have improved a lot because of these competitions and they bring that experience to the national championships.”

“Additionally,” says Philip, “The players are very sincere and they want to improve. The association in Kerala is supportive and they encourage us a lot.”

Philip is one of the many coaches of the Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) who have been working hard to improve their own craft and thus improve the talent level and competitiveness of the players in the system. A month ago, NBA-India’s Troy Justice held a very successful camp for the coaches in Thiruvanathpuram, bringing together 40 coaches from all over the state. “The coaches were very engaged and had a strong desire to learn the technical aspects of the game,” said Justice.

But no matter how dedicated the federation, sports council, or the coaches are about the game, it is the performance of the players on the court that ultimately effects any squad’s success. Luckily, the new crop of Keralite stars are determined to follow on Geethu Anna Jose’s footsteps and make the state proud like she did.

Off the court, they look as gentle as they are menacing on it. The Kerala’s Girls’ side, sporting identical long ponytails and thin, athletic frames, may look like a welcoming and friendly bunch pre-game, but once the action starts, the ponytails run back and forth as a singular unified force, attacking and defending to produce well-coordinated dominance.

Perhaps the most talented amongst the youngsters is 17-year-old Jeena PS. Hailing from Padinjarathara, in the Wayanad District of Kerala, the five-foot-ten inch post player has been the chief force behind Kerala’s recent success in the Youth and the Junior level. Jeena was part of the side that won both the Youth and the Junior championships last year, and was the best players at this year’s Junior Nationals as Kerala won the tournament again. She is one of the best Junior rebounders in India, and holds her own when playing with the Seniors, too.

In the Junior Nationals, Jeena scored a high of 40 points in the first game against Punjab. She had 33 points and 29 rebounds in an emotional, overtime Semi-Final win against Chhattisgarh, and notched 17 points and 17 rebounds in the Final win against Tamil Nadu. Over the course of the tournament, she averaged 24.3 points per game.

“Basketball in Kerala works because there are many institutes out there to look after us, provide good practices, and we have good coaches,” Jeena says, “Our current Junior team has had success based on this great coaching – we have good rebounders, we play past, and we always start from defense first.”

Jeena was also chosen amongst the 30 probables for the Indian Senior Camp under experienced former US-college coach Pete Gaudet. Gaudet is known for his expertise at developing post players, and Jeena came back with her skills even more carefully honed after the short crash-course with the new coach. Even though she wasn’t chosen for the final cut of the Indian squad, she got to spend some time with the post player on whom Gaudet’s team is likely to build around: Kerala’s own Geetha Anna Jose.

“She is my role model,” Jeena says of Jose, “And I really want to learn to play like here. She helped the young players a lot in the Senior Camp.”

Jose is a former student of the Mount Carmel School in Kottayam – the city and Jose’s former institution has produced yet another young superstar who is taking Kerala basketball by storm. Poojamol KS, though only 15, is another exciting young face of Kerala hoops. Pooja is a versatile, do-it-all player, as capable of running the break on offense as she is of grabbing crucial offensive rebounds in the post. She was the best player in the Nagpur Youth Nationals, topping her performance with 40 points and 13 rebounds in the final. As a younger member in the Junior squad, she was still good enough to play a starring role in the team’s starting five.

Poojamol also showed a great all-round display in the Junior Nationals, as she scored, ran the offense, rebounded, and defended with equal ease. It was her clutch put-back lay-up in the semi-final against Chhattisgarh that tied the game and saw Kerala survive in overtime to head to the tournament’s final.

Besides these two, Kerala’s Junior side boasts of several other extraordinary young talents, such as Premi P Lal, captain Surya PR, and Anjana PG who helped this deeply talented team keep its edge. Coach Philip showed pride in the players, and was confident that the team were always the strongest threat to win the Juniors. “We have many great strengths,” Philip said, “Our team is full of quick sharp-shooters, and play who defend and rebound very well. They are sincere and dedicated.”

But the real skill in champion teams isn’t to win a championship, but to keep winning, to keep playing at an elite level, year after year, as Kerala hopes to do. “Our players stay motivated to keep winning,” Philip adds, “And they realise that with success in these tournaments they will be given cash rewards, scholarships, and a chance to secure a government job.”

With the right guidance, motivation, and output, it seems that Kerala has put together a blueprint for success and for producing elite female basketball stars. The young girls have a perfect role model in Geethu Anna Jose, and one day, there will be many more young Geethus following on her footsteps.

Indian Youth Probables (Boys & Girls) called for coaching camp in New Delhi

32 Boys and 31 Girls of the Indian Youth (under-16) division have been called up for a coaching camp to be held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi from June 15th – July 29th. A selection committee of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) have selected these probables based on their performance at the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in Nagpur from May 26th-June 2, 2011.

The camp in Delhi will determine India’s Youth National teams for FIBA Asia U16 Championships later in the year. The Indian U16 Boys side will get an opportunity to qualify for the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Boys in Nha Trang City (Vietnam) from October 18-28, 2011. The Indian U16 Girls side will participate in the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Girls in Urumqui (China) from October 5-12, 2011.

In addition to the players selected from the Youth Nationals, the eight Indian youngsters currently getting training at the IMG-Academy in Bradenton, Florida (USA) have also been invited to the camp in New Delhi.

Youth Probables

Boys

Om Jaiswal (Chhattisgarh)
Akash Bhasin (Chhattisgarh)
P. Murli (Chhattisgarh)
Ajay Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh)
Dinesh Mishra (IMG Academy / Chhattisgarh)
Sanjeev Kumar (IMG Academy / Chhattisgarh)
Lawkesh Sharma (Chhattisgarh)
Narender (Delhi)
Akimjeet Singh Sohal (Delhi)
Pradeep Kumar (Delhi)
Panjak Rathee (Delhi)
Gaurav Ohlyan (Delhi)
Rohan Pethani (Gujarat)
Rajesh Sangwan (Haryana)
Himanshu Sharma (Haryana)
Vivek Sandhu (Haryana)
Shubham Mishra (Madhya Pradesh)
Syed Anam Ali (Madhya Pradesh)
Gopal Singh Rathee (Madhya Pradesh)
Ashiv Jain (IMG Academy / Madhya Pradesh)
Jagtap Rohan Ramesh (Maharashtra)
Shaikh Ibrahim Riyaz (Maharashtra)
Malik Saleem Mohd. Ibrahim (Maharashtra)
Kushmeet Singh (Punjab)
Loveneet Singh (Punjab)
Satnam Singh Bhamara (IMG Academy / Punjab)
Akashdeep Hazra (Punjab)
Navjot Singh (Rajasthan)
S. Karthickeyan (Tamil Nadu)
Himanshu Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Abhishek Rai (Uttar Pradesh)
Sagar Joshi (West Bengal)

Girls

Sangeeta Das (Chhattisgarh)
Anjana Daisy Ekka (Chhattisgarh)
Poonam Chaturvedi (Chhattisgarh)
Pooja Ambishta (IMG Academy / Chhattisgarh)
A. Kavita (IMG Academy / Chhattisgarh)
Sangeetha Kaur (Chhattisgarh)
Sharanjeet Kaur (Chhattisgarh)
Soumya Babbar (IMG Academy / Delhi)
Rimpy Hooda (Haryana)
Anju Bhalotlia (Haryana)
Bharti Sihag (Haryana)
Komal Yadav (Haryana)
Praneetha S (Karnataka)
Karishma Rajan (Karnataka)
Prami P. Lal (Kerala)
Elizabeth Hilarious (Kerala)
Anathy Vimal (Kerala)
Poojamol KS (Kerala)
Ashwathy S. Thampi (Kerala)
Monika Gurjar (Madhya Pradesh)
Sruthi Menon (Maharashtra)
Ishwari Pingle (Maharashtra)
Krithika Divadkar (Maharashtra)
Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra)
Nirmal Kaur (Punjab)
Kulwinder Kaur (Punjab)
K. Devi Rajalaksmi (Tamil Nadu)
R. Sharmila (Tamil Nadu)
Shruti (Uttar Pradesh)
Barkha Sonkar (IMG Academy / Uttar Pradesh)
Madhu Kumari (West Bengal)

Definitely some interesting young players on the list - several of them have been in the fray for a while now, and a few made their mark at the Nagpur Youth Nationals recently.

First off, these are the kids who are at the IMG Academy in the USA, and will definitely be playing at the highest level because of their training and competition level - Boys: Satnam Singh Bhamara, Sanjeev Kumar, Dinesh Mishra, and Ashiv Jain. Girls: Barkha Sonkar, Pooja Ambishta, Soumya Babbar, and A. Kavita. These eight kids have been studying and playing there for almost a year now. The standout name amongst them is obviously of 7 foot 1 youngster Satnam Singh Bhamara, who, with his combination of size, skill, and youth, has become the Big Indian Basketball Hope.

Amongst the girls, the other star youngster is Maharashtra's Shireen Limaye, who is also the youngest player to be called up for India's Sr. Women's camp. Highly experienced at her age, Shireen will be one of the superstars of India's U16 Girls' squad.

Other players who had impressive outings at the Nagpur Youth Nationals are Kerala's Poojamal, who scored 40 points to go with 13 rebounds to lead her team to a gold medal win in the Girls' final, Chhattisgarh's Anjana Ekka, Maharashtra's Sruthi Menon, and Haryana's Rimpy Hooda.

One of the most interesting names in the girls' probables is of Poonam Chaturvedi, who at 6 foot 6 inches, is India's tallest female basketball player, and is still almost a month short of her 16th birthday. Originally from UP, Chaturvedi played for Chhattisgarh at the Youth Nationals, and despite her inexperience, was a major force in helping her team bag the silver medal.

In the Boys' list, there are several players from the gold winners Delhi, including Akimjeet Singh Sohal, Narendar, and Pradeep Kumar. Runners-up MP are represented by 3 players, including Syed Anam Ali and sharpshooter Shubham Mishra. Punjab's high-scoring 'Singh duo' of Loveneet and Kushmeet will also be attending. Other impressive performers were Akash Bhasin (Chhattisgarh), Saleem Ibrahim (Maharashtra), and Rakesh Sangwan (Haryana).

Delhi Boys; Kerala Girls become 2011 Youth Champions

On an evening where India’s best young basketball talent competed against each other to win the top prize, the real winner was the spectacle basketball. The Finals of the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls were held at Divisional Sports Complex at Nagpur (Maharashtra) on Thursday – in both the boys’ and girls’ Finals, each team saved its best defense for last. The boys from the capital side Delhi used their length to snuff out a strong Madhya Pradesh side to lift the title. In the girls’ section, last year’s youth winners Kerala continued their hot streak, going undefeated in this year’s edition and beating a strong Chhattisgarh side in the final to become repeat champions.

The Boys Final was a defensive juggernaut, as both teams played their toughest defense to deny their opponents from getting any shots at the basket. Both teams were quick and athletic, but baskets weren’t coming easy for anyone. Delhi led most of the way though, especially behind the rare combination of skill and size shown by Pradeep Kumar. MP committed too many turnovers as Delhi took a big lead – MP attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, even making it a three point game with just 5:24 left on the clock, but Delhi regrouped well after a timeout and enjoyed their best offense in the tournament’s last five minutes, cruising to a 58-47 win.

Neither side was spectacular from the field, as MP shot 26 percent, and the winners, Delhi, just 21 percent. But Delhi’s players, led by Akimjeet Singh, did an incredible job attacking the basket, winning fouls and getting to the free throw line. The 17-5 difference in free throws made was also the difference maker between the two teams.

“We prepared for this tournament one day at a time,” said jubilant Delhi coach JN Nehra, “We studied the strategy and playing style of each opponent that we faced, and we prepared for each one differently. That helped us get to the top.”

There was no stopping Kerala as they out-dueled Chhattisgarh in an entertaining Girls’ final. Poojamol KS, who had been Kerala’s best player all tournament, put up her best performance in the Final, putting in 40 points and grabbing 13 rebounds – her opposite number, Anjana Ekka of Chhattisgarh, also gave a tough fight, scoring 37 points to go with 13 rebounds and game-high 6 blocks.

The Girls’ final started slowly, but Chhattisgarh quickly took control of the game. Kerala boasted of several long and athletic players, but they ran into a big roadblock as Chhattisgarh’s 6 foot 6 inch Centre Poonam Chaturvedi guarded the post. But Poojamal was too swift for even Chhattisgarh’s defense, and she shot a high percentage en-route to her 40 point night. Kerala did a great job in combating Chhattisgarh’s size with speed.

The game was reminiscent of Chhattisgarh’s semi-final with Maharashtra, where they came back big in the second half for a close win. It was a different story in the Final: Kerala continued to play well in the second, isolating Anjana Ekka who was on a shooting spree for Chhatisgarh. Poojamal and the rest of Kerala went blow for blow with Anjana, and in the end, there would be no comeback as Kerala won 70-61.

“I was very confident about this game,” Poojamal exclaimed after clinching the title for her side, “Our team had a lot of practice before this tournament to deal with pressure situations such as this final, and I was ready tonight. I am very happy about winning this championship and it is a great achievement for the state of Kerala.”

Mr. Harish Sharma, CEO of the BFI, congratulated all the players who participated in he championship, and added, "I'm proud of these young stars, they have worked hard for this achievement and I hope that they will have a great future. Basketball in India is at a turning point and it will be these young players who will lead the way in the coming years."

Earlier in the day, the host Maharashtra side, whose boys’ and girls’ teams had both lost at the Semi-Final stage, played in the third-place playoff matches. Maharashtra Boys faced a motivated Chhattisgarh, who led the game from start to end for a comfortable 73-56 win. Akash Bhasin, one of the tournament’s best scorers, had 32 points for Chhattisgarh, while T. Shantanu paced Maharashtra with 26.

In the Girls’ playoff, the highly-touted Maharashtra team shrugged off the disappointing semi-final loss to Chhattisgarh from a day earlier and won a highly-competitive game against the speedy girls from Haryana. Haryana Girls, one of the stories of the tournament, stayed neck to neck with Maharashtra throughout the game. In the third, Maharashtra finally opened up a big lead as their stars Shireen Limaye (17 points) and Shruti Menon (16) began to click. Haryana’s fourth quarter comeback wasn’t enough as they lost 70-63. Rimpy Hooda had 21 points for Haryana and Bharti Sihag added 18.

Final Scores

Boys: Delhi (Akimjeet Singh 16, Pradeep Kumar 15, Pankaj Rathi 15) bt. Madhya Pradesh (Shivam Mishra 23) 58-47 (14-9, 13-9, 7-13, 24-16).

Girls: Kerala (Poojamol KS 40, Arthy Vimal 12) bt. Chhattisgarh (Anjana Ekka 37) 70-61 (16-21, 9-15, 20-16, 16-18).

3rd/4th Place Playoffs

Boys: Chhattisgarh (Akash Basin 32, Saif Hashmi 10, M. David Boon 10) bt. Maharashtra (T. Shantanu 26, Rohan Ramesh 11) 73-56 (21-16, 19-15, 16-12, 17-13).

Girls: Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 17, Sruthi Menon 16, Ishwari Pingle 11, Kritika Divadkar 11) bt. Haryana (Rimpy Hooda 21, Bharti Sihag 18, Monika Vats 11) 70-63 (23-21, 14-12, 22-12, 11-18).

With new indoor stadium, Nagpur looks to become a major centre for basketball in India

In the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra is the ‘Zero Mile Stone’, the spot ‘geographical centre’ of India. The Zero Mile Stone is supposedly equidistant from all corners of India. The exact geographical coordinates will obviously be a little different, but this is the spot which we consider to be the centre of India’s massive 3.29 lakh square kilometer area.


Less than six kilometers away from this milestone is another important landmark, another place where the rest of India is starting to slowly converge. This place is Nagpur’s brand new Indoor Basketball Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex, and this week, this court in Nagpur has welcomed young Indian basketball players from all four corners of the country – from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala, from Gujarat to Manipur – a total of 24 boys’ and 23 girls’ teams from different states are taking part in the Youth National Basketball Championship here from May 26th – June 2.

The new stadium, featuring two basketball courts and a capacity of 5,000, is the icing on the cap of several years of improvement in the hoops culture of the city. The foundation stone for this stadium was laid back in 1999, but after lying dormant for nearly a decade, a flurry of activity and interest by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) encouraged the authorities in the city to accelerate the completion progress – it was fitting then, that, this stadium was inaugurated with a major basketball event, the Youth Nationals, on May 26th, 2011 by Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. These are the first basketball nationals to ever take place in the city.

And just like the growth of infrastructure and a facility that many would consider amongst the best for basketball in India, the game in the city of Nagpur, which also lay dormant for several decades, has shown considerable growth over the past few years.

Nagpur is also known as the ‘Orange City’ for its world-famous Santreys. In 1967, the city welcomed another orange-coloured, round entity as its own – the basketball! The Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA) was founded in 1967. Since then, Nagpur has produced a few legendary players – Manjiri Mandpe remains the only player from the city to have represented India. She is a Chhatrapati Award Winner, the highest Sports Award given in Maharashtra. Other basketball players to receive this award from Nagpur over the years have been Pankaj Deshmukh, Shatrughna Gokhale, Sonal Kawde Deshmukh, Archana Muley, and Satish Warrier, who at seven feet, is remembered as the tallest player to represent the Orange City.

Until recently though, the city didn’t exactly resonate with the word basketball – Nagpur rarely put up great performance in the Maharashtra State Championships and the city’s hoopsters had few options of honing their games.

But things have started to change over the past few years. The NDBA’s secretary Anup Rajorkar borrowed an idea of the NBDL, or the Development League of the National Basketball Association in the USA, and he launched a D-League in the city of Nagpur three years ago. Featuring 14 different basketball clubs in Nagpur, each of whom have their own home court, the players take part in competitive league for about a month every years. The league is held for four different age groups and for both the male and female sections.

“The results of the D-League has shown direct improvement in the Nagpur district basketball team,” said Rajurkar, “It has helped in the development of several players and now, both our boys and girls teams have are starting to show good performances in the State Nationals.”

Then, after the success of the D-League, Rajurkar helped to launch his next project in the city– the Chevrolet Motors Nagpur Competitive League (NCL). This is a franchise-based , under-13 league, for boys and girls, with every team having an owner. “Nagpur’s Mini (U13) has also improved since this league,” Rajurkar added.

Now, several of the older players from the city are getting a run in their city’s new court – Nikunj Chandak and Rahul Pisipati are representing Maharashtra’s Youth Boys team, while Mathlee Joshi plays for the state’s girls’ side.

With a glitzy new court, a couple of competitive new leagues, and improving young talent, the present of Nagpur basketball is good, and the future could be even better. Rajurkar hopes to bring in more tournaments into the city, and even bring in India’s Senior National teams for a camp into the new court.

In the city that is already the geographical centre of the country, it’s ambition for becoming an important centre for basketball is now closer to becoming a reality.

Despite QF exit, Haryana Boys basketball takes a big step forward

It seemed too good to be true. A side pooled into the lower level of the tournament demolishes every rival that comes its way and finds itself in a dream Quarter Final match-up against its big-name neighbour. Despite being underdogs, it dominates the proceedings, threatening to cause a historical upset.

But in the fourth quarter their dreams come crashing down. Despite leading by 8 points, their opponents make a fierce comeback in the fourth and take the lead. With the game on the line and a little over a second on the clock, the underdog side gets one last attempt at the basket. Their star player attempts a jump-shot from the left corner, one last shot that would win the game for his team and lead them into an unlikely Semi-Final spot.

Miss!

The ball touches on the far side of the rim and bounces off. The fairytale ends, and the losing team leaves the court dejected.

The Haryana Boys team, a side that haven’t made a mark in the tournament for nearly 20 years, went on a dream run at the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls at Nagpur and came within a jump-shot of defeating the capital side of Delhi and making it to the last four. But don’t tell them that the fairy-tale is over, because as coach Mahtab Dahiya and his group of hard-working young players will have you believe, this year is just the beginning: with a big step forward in this tournament, this team has ambitions for the gold next year.

“This is the best performance that we have had for many years, and after winning six straight games we lost just by one point,” said Coach Dahiya, clearly dejected after an early end to his team’s run, “But we have done well – and from being a lower level team this year, we have qualified to be amongst the higher level for the next Youth Nationals.”

Their best performance, Dahiya states, came against another stronger side, Andhra Pradesh. Before their Quarter-Final, Haryana played AP in an early morning game on the same day, and his players responded with a strong showing, defeating AP by 73 points en route to posting highest offensive score of the championship with 119 points.

So how did a team, who aren’t known to make a mark in Basketball tournaments in India, manage to do this well? Dahiya and his players claim that there was no magic formula, no superstar addition, and no major tactical change: just the good old cliché of ‘practice makes perfect’. “We just practiced harder for this tournament than ever before,” Dahiya said, “For the first time, we held a month-long camp before the tournament started in Kaithal in Haryana. We used to practice an hour a day first, and now, this team practice for two to two and a half hours daily.”

Haryana Boys won their first six games of the championship, beating Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh before their hurdle against Delhi. “We got unlucky,” Dahiya added, “We had ambitions to win the gold, but our luck didn’t favour our ambition.” Haryana were determined to make a mark in the championship this year, and even though they haven’t progressed beyond the last eight, their promotion from Lower to Higher Level is a result of the hard work that this team had put in.

On the way, players like Himanshu Sharma, Rakesh Sangwan, and Rahul Sharma left an indelible mark on the championship. Himanshu, the team’s leader from the front, has been the team’s best creator, dishing and driving at will throughout the tournament. He also epitomises the unselfish spirit of this team, deflecting any praise away from himself towards his teammates. “My individual play was fine, but our team as a whole showed good chemistry to come this far,” he said.

Rakesh Sangwan, at 6 foot 6, is the biggest player in the side, and was a handful in the post position in each game. After picking up the game just two years ago, he developed quickly to seal the starting role for Haryana.

And then there was Rahul Sharma, one of the youngsters in the side, a strong shooter who will be part of the Haryana U16 side next year, too. “We all had good performances,” Rahum said, “But next year, we plan to play even better. It will be the upper group, and we will play against better teams, but I promise we’ll be ready for it.”

And like his players, the coach also shares their confidence. “70% of this team can be back for next year’s Youth Nationals,” said Dahiya, “We will be back – and we will aim for the gold.”

IMG Basketball’s Bobby Sharma: “The future of Indian basketball is very, very bright"

Bobby Sharma is Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball, for IMG, the global sports and media company. IMG, in their partnership with Reliance, have come together to work with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to oversee the growth of basketball in India. Sharma who is in India to oversee the growth of IMG’s basketball business visited the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in Nagpur (Maharashtra) this past week to watch some of the best U-16 players from around the country take part in this competitive tournament.

The brand new Indoor Stadium at Mankapur, in Nagpur, was almost as much of a showcase as the talent on the floor. The stadium was inauguarated on the opening day of the Youth Nationals by Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday. I got a chance to speak to Sharma, who was welcomed at the tournament and introduced to some of the participating players on Saturday, about the emerging basketball talent and infrastructure in India.

Hoopistani. What are your thoughts on the new stadium and facilities and the host city of the Youth Nationals, Nagpur?

Sharma: “As the geographic epicenter of the country, Nagpur makes a perfect host for events such as the 28th BFI Under-16 Youth National Championships. I think that this Indoor Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex is absolutely beautiful. Thanks to the great efforts of the government officials and Harish Sharma of the Basketball Federation of India, this arena is a showcase venue, not only for Nagpur, but all of India.”

Q. What impression have the Youth players left on you after watching them play? Have you noticed any standout players or teams at this competition?

Sharma: “The impression I get is that the future of Indian basketball is very, very bright. I was just remarking to one of the coaches yesterday how impressed I was with the level of the talent and athleticism on display, for both boys and girls, from all over India. But the thing that struck me the most was how much fun everyone was having, how much joy so many have for the game – and that isn't limited to the kids. It's so great to see basketball in its most pure and organic form, played, coached, officiated, organized, and watched out of love.”

Q. What should be the next step in improving youth and grass roots level basketball in India?

Sharma: “That is an important question, as improving youth and grassroots basketball is one of the highest priorities of the great partnership forged between IMG Reliance and the BFI. I think we have recently taken a giant leap forward with the hiring of three incredible coaches from the highest levels of basketball for the senior teams - Kenny Natt from the NBA, and Pete Gaudet and Zak Penwell from the most elite Division I American colleges. Importing their knowledge and passion for the game into the existing structures of the BFI, stretching throughout the entire country, will yield immediate and long-lasting returns all the way to the youngest and newest players and coaches.”

“I am incredibly honored to be here, and so thankful for all the warmth and kindness I have received from the Indian basketball community. I already feel I am part of the BFI family.”

Poonam Chaturvedi: The next next big thing

Off the court, she quietly tries to hide behind her teammates. But while silence may deny us from hearing her, she can’t stay visibly hidden for too long. A month shy of her 16th birthday, Poonam Chaturvedi is already 6 foot 6 inches tall, at least half a foot bigger than any of the other girls in her Chhattisgarh Youth team. Any attempt to hide is futile.

Poonam Chaturvedi grew so tall, so quickly, that she has already forgotten tall she exactly was just three years ago.

“A grew a lot when I was 13,” she says.

“How much did you grow?” I ask, trying to get her to be a bit more specific.

“A lot.”

It isn’t easy for a 6 foot 6 inch human being to hide, but everything from Poonam’s own shy demeanour to the years she played ball silently away from the public eye indicate that somehow, this giant teenager remained a secret. Women’s basketball in India is mostly a small girl’s game, and so anyone with the perfect advantage of height and skills literally rises head and shoulders above all to dominate. See the case of Geethu Anna Jose, India’s best known basketball player, who at 6 foot 2 has been the best player in the Women’s game for half a decade and became the first Indian to be invited for a WNBA trial.

Still at the U16 level, Poonam has already become the tallest female basketball player in India. The height came by nature, but it is the work she is putting into her game now that will help her grow into the best basketball player that she can be.

Born and bred in Kanpur (UP), Poonam now finds herself as the centerpiece of the U-16 girls side representing the Chhattisgarh state at the Youth National Basketball Championship in Nagpur. After a false start to her basketball career at the hostel in Agra, she was spotted at the National Women’s Games in Chhattisgarh by Chhattisgarh Basketball Association’s secretary Rajesh Patel. A man with a shrewd eye for scouting and grooming successful women’s basketball players, Patel, who is also the coach of Chhattisgarh’s women teams, realised that the young giant Poonam would have to become his next project.

“We saw her playing for UP at the Women’s Games and we wanted to speak to her,” Patel says, “Over the next four months, I must have called her father 30 to 40 times to try and convince him to send her to join our basketball camp in Billai (Chhattisgarh).”

Patel’s camp and hostel in Billai has gained the reputation of becoming Indian Basketball’s talent factory – it took until the end of April before Poonam finally joined the other talented young girls at the hostel, and the opportunity couldn’t have come a moment too soon.

“Back in Agra, her game wasn’t developing at all,” said Patel, “There were only six or seven girls in the hostel there, so the only practice they got was shoot-around, there were never enough to play a full five-on-five game. When we recruited her to Chhattisgarh, we barely had a month to make sure she fit in with the system. She had to be ready to play for our U16 team at the Youth Nationals.”

Her big unveiling, and her first competitive game for Chhattisgarh, was against Uttarakhand on the first day of the Youth Nationals. Still showing a lack of coordination in fitting in with the run-n-gun Chhattisgarh side, Poonam nevertheless managed to score 14 points in a dominating blowout win for her side.

“We’ve had to practice extra to fit her in,” Patel says, “For the last month, the girls would be up at 4 in the morning to practice extra drills and extra plays that involve Poonam.”

Patel’s Chhattisgarh sides have always suffered from height, but never have they let that come between them and success. In producing one of the most-triumphant programmes ever in several different age levels over the last decade, Patel has preached a style of ball-hawking defense and quick fast-break baskets to make sure that his teams almost always win.

Now, both Patel and his latest recruit are in new territory: the coach because he has to change his offensive and defensive schemes around a taller but slower player, and Poonam because she was playing with a quick team which already carried with it a winning culture. It was no surprise then that she was a step too slow in her early competitions with Chhattisgarh, but both player and coach realise that there is a long road to improvement.

“My game has improved a lot since I came to Chhattisgarh,” she says, “But I want to keep playing harder and keep improving. This is a good defensive team and I realise that my defense will need work to fit in: I still need to learn how to always stay in front of the player I’m guarding.”

Patel is even more critical of his young and potential-ridden player. “We have changed our defensive patterns for her, and she will have to fit in. But there are a lot more areas where we have been working hard on, giving her hours of extra, individual training: her jumping/athletic ability, her back to the basket game, free throws, showing, dribbling, and of course, we want her to gain more weight and bring a lot more power to her game.”

Yet, regardless of the holes in Poonam’s game, it isn’t difficult to see why this 6 foot 6 teenager is garnering all the hype at the competition. She already has a naturally good shooting stroke, a good offensive post game, and in just her first month of proper basketball training, she has become good enough to be a real threat for opponents at the Youth Nationals.

“She makes our team a lot better too,” Patel adds, “We now feel a psychological edge of having the tallest player whenever we go against any opponent. With her on this side, I know this team can qualify for the final.

But both Poonam and Patel are looking way beyond the Youth Nationals: Patel’s next aim is to make sure that Poonam is chosen for Indian National U16 Select Camp after this tournament. He is also hopeful that, with the arrival of a world class strength trainer Zak Penwell, Poonam will have just the kind of guidance she needs to bulk up into perfect shape.

“Her future is very bright,” says Patel, “She’s still young, and is already the tallest player in India: she can go a long way.”

And while her coach gives the outspoken support, and while the comparisons of ‘next Geethu’ pour in, Poonam remains confident in her own quiet and calm way. “I want to play for India,” she says.

No matter how hard she tries, a big girl with potentially bigger talent like Poonam can’t remain hidden behind anyone. Kanpur and Agra saw her grow, Chhattisgarh helped her develop, and Nagpur will see the early fruits of the combination of skill and size. And it won’t be long before all of India Basketball knows about the next next big thing.

From player to coach, Manisha Dange looks to complete the hoops cycle

Could an early bloomer also be a late bloomer? How many stars dominate at a young age, and as they grow older, find the inspiration to bloom again, into a different kind of star? From a star young player, to an inspirational veteran, and now planting the seeds of a potential coaching career, Maharashtra’s Manisha Dange hopes to do it all.

Three months ago, Manisha Dange and Shireen Limaye were playing on the same court on the same squad: the former a 30-year-old legend of Maharashtra’s women’s basketball; the latter had just turned 16 and was already being touted as the next big thing in women’s basketball in India. Dange, as the team’s captain, and Limaye, as the young, do-it-all sparkplug, led an exciting Maharashtra Women’s team into the Federation Cup at Raipur.

Three months later, the faces are the same, but the roles have changed: it is the Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Dange and Limaye’s home-court, and the Maharashtra team is captained by Limaye, who is the most experienced young star leading a group of girls who are relatively fresh to the big stage. But Dange is here too – staying involved with Maharashtra and her young teammate as the coach of the U16 side.

The transformation to coach for teammate has been seamless for Dange. “I’m only the team’s coach on the court,” Dange says, “Outside it, I’m more a Didi - an older sister – than a coach. The difference of age between me and Shireen or any of the other girls isn’t too much, so they are comfortable with me. I have to be strict but allow the girls to have their fun.”

“Because I’ve been a player myself I can understand the girls and know exactly how it feels to travel for a tournament, feel the pressure, and perform at this stage. During basketball games, working now as a coach, I get to see understand many of my own faults as a player and find a way not just to improve my coaching ability but also my playing ability.”

And as she continues to discover her coaching attributes and rediscover her talents as a player, Dange makes sure to indicate that she has enough gas to keep both her careers going. “I want to continue playing and coaching simultaneously,” she said, “This is just the first step: I want to keep progressing as a coach as time passes and keep playing for as long as possible, too.”

Her star player, Shireen Limaye, doesn’t believe that Dange’s shift from player to coach has been a complicated affair. “She has been and is still a very good player,” Limaye says of Dange, “Even as a team-mate, she is always a coach on court – she has always making sure to train us and give us advice, and we used to practice drills with her as team-mates that I now practice with her as coach. It is an advantage for us to have a coach who is also a good active player.”

This is Dange’s second attempt at leading Maharashtra’s U16 Girls squad at the Youth Nationals – she was also the team’s coach last year when they went for the Nationals in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. This time around, the pressure to perform as hosts and as one of the most talented young teams in the competition is squarely on Dange’s side.

“Our team has a lot of positives,” Dange said, “The biggest of them all, obviously, is Shireen. But this year, we have come prepared physically to be the best and put up a good show as the hosts. Before this tournament, the girls took part in an 18-day fitness camp in Vashi, which helped them improved their speed, agility and overall fitness.”

The current Maharashtra Girls side also has a good size advantage and will hope to exploit it against most of their other opponents.

As a player, Dange has been here and done it all before. Hailing from Thane in Mumbai, she picked up the game when she was only 12 years old, but didn’t make her first major Nationals until the youth/U16 stage, the same stage at which she has made her coaching debut nearly 15 years later. From then on, the game of basketball began opening several new avenues for her: she was picked to play for Railways at the age of 18 – a move she calls the ‘best moment of her basketball career’ – and she represented India in two crucial tournaments in 2007: the FIBA Asia Championships in South Korea and an Invitational Tournament in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

Although she won’t be making a comeback to the Indian National team soon, she continues to be a dominating and respected figure in Maharashtra Basketball – besides, it is now the turn for her teammate/star-pupil to shine: Shireen Limaye has become the youngest player to get a call-up for the Indian Senior National Camp in New Delhi, and she will have a shot at making her own debut with India’s Senior National team at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Japan this August.

As she has experienced the past and the evolving present of basketball in India, Dange is hopeful for the future that Limaye and other young stars of the country. “The current crop of stars have a good future,” she says, “They are getting a lot of opportunities now, and will soon get a lot more exposure and returns for their hard-work in the game.”

But for now, ‘Coach’ Dange – or Manisha Didi – has only one mission in mind: helping Limaye, Shruti Menon, Ayushi Gupta, and the rest of the young squad live up to their top billing and capture the Youth Championships on home soil. “We have a good team, and because we’re playing at home, we’re the favourites. Once the crowds get bigger, there will be more pressure on the girls to perform – I have to make sure that they blank out the outside noise and just focus on their game.”

And if anyone can help them deal with the pressure it’s their experienced coach – after all, she has been there, done that, and is now back to bloom again.

28th Youth Basketball Nationals tip off in Nagpur; Hosts Maharashtra start positively

Look no further if you want to spot the next basketball superstar of India: On Thursday, May 26th, the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, popularly known as the ‘Orange City’, welcomed hundreds of under-16 boys and girls from two dozen states in India to take part in the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls, slated to take place from May 26th – June 2nd.

Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan got the games underway after inaugurating Nagpur’s brand new Indoor Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex, but it was the hosts Maharashtra who got the hoop fans really fired-up with back to back wins for both the girls’ and the boys’ teams.

Chavan, who declared the new Indoor Stadium open on Thursday afternoon, welcomed the players and the spectators. “It feels great to be at this inauguration at the ‘second capital’ of Maharashtra, Nagpur,” Chavan said, “I’m glad to see the best young players here from all over the country of India.”

The first game following the opening was the highly touted Maharashtra Girls side, featuring superstar Shireen Limaye as captain, who is the youngest player to be called up for the Indian Senior National camp in New Delhi. Maharashtra didn’t disappoint, even though they faced a motivated Punjab squad, and raced away to a double digit lead in the first quarter. Maharashtra really perked up their defense in the second half, allowing only four points in the last 20 minutes of play, en route to a convincing 65-31 victory. Shruti Menon had a confident outing with 19 points for Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Boys started off their campaign with a tenaciously fought win over a gritty Karnataka side. Although Maharashtra led most of their way, Karnataka remained right on their tails, with big performances by Jeethender (24) and Melever (16). The second half was especially tightly contested but Maharashtra maintained their lead to notch a 63-50 win. Rohan Jagtap was the high scorer for the hosts with 17 points.

Meanwhile, Kerala Girls, the winners of last year’s tournament in Trichy, didn’t skip a beat as they started off with a dominating performance against Delhi. Kerala used hard-nosed defense and a balanced scoring threat to get an early lead over the team from the capital, and they carried their momentum throughout the game. It was an easy win for Kerala in the end, with the final score 54-13.

Important Scores

Boys

Group A: Maharashtra (Rohan Jagtap 17, Salim Malik 14) bt Karnataka (Jeethender 24, Melever 16), 63-50 (16-13,20-11,15-14,12-12).

Group C: Uttar Pradesh (Rahul Yadav 22, Ankit Malik 11, Abhishek Rai 10) bt Himachal Pradesh 77-40 (13-8, 16-10, 15-14, 33-8)

Girls

Group A: Maharashtra (Shruti Menon19, Shireen Limaye 15, Aditi Kamble 12) bt Punjab (Nirmal Kaur 13) 65-31 (22-11,18-16,16-2,9-2)

Group B: Chattisgarh (Sangeeta 21, Anjana Daisy 14, Poonam Chaturvedi 14) bt Uttarakhand, 90-19 (28-10, 28-2, 18-6, 16-1)

Group A: Kerala (Poojamal 14) bt Delhi 54-13 (21-4,6-1,15-5,12-3)

Group B: Haryana (Monika Vias 20, Bhakti Singh 15) bt Uttar Pradesh (Garima Singh 12,Shruti 16) 52-43 (11-14,8-6,16-17,17-6).

Nagpur welcomes 24 boys’ and 23 girls’ teams for Basketball’s Youth Nationals

The future of basketball in India will assemble together to compete for the ultimate prize – the Youth Nationals Championship. The 28th National Basketball Championship for Youth (U16) Boys and Girls will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) at Nagpur (Maharashtra) from May 26, 2011 – June 2, 2011. The Indoor Stadium in Mankapur in Nagpur will be hosting this championship.

Only players born on or after 1st January 1995 are eligible to participate.
24 boys teams and 23 girls teams from across the country have confirmed their entry into this tournament. The participating squads are:

Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

“The Youth Nationals will be a great exhibition of the young and upcoming players in the country,” said Mr. Harish Sharma, the CEO of the BFI, said, “These youngsters will become the future superstars of Indian basketball.”

The 27th Youth Nationals, held in Trichy (Tamil Nadu) from June 1-8, 2010, were won by Punjab (Boys) and Kerala (Girls).