19 November 2009

Basketball the game of the youth

There are a ton of school basketball tournaments going on these days, both for boys and girls. The tournaments are receiving quite a bit of fanfare and media coverage and without a doubt basketball now is the school sport of Nepal.

Unlike football, which requires a massive field and a squad of 16 to 18 players, and the martial arts, whose purpose is to wound one's opponent, basketball is an ideal sport for Nepali schools.

I would love to see schools and the Nepal Basketball Association (NeBA) work together to really proliferate the game in the country. The goal should be for virtually every school to have a basketball court and a team. They would play in local school leagues and there would be a national championship for the top schools.

The dream scenario for sports lovers would be if in the future kids picked a school based on the reputation of the basketball program and the sport became the central event that brings together a school's alumni base. Countries like the USA and Japan have a great school sports culture and it would be wonderful if we could one day have that in Nepal through basketball.