“When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals.” – Michael Jordan
It all starts from the “home court,” the first few steps towards the ring with a basketball in hand and no knowledge of how to dribble it; the aim is to simply put the ball through the hoop! With time, we learn and with practice, we become better.
In our country, a selected number of schools can provide the facilities for an amateur to burnish his skills. More importantly, luring enthusiasts to come forth and build themselves up for the following generations need a touch of inspirational promises, such as recognition and prizes as memorabilia for their achievements. The scenario has changed!
The time of concrete ground and wooden boards with spring-less rings is over! Some schools upgraded their basketball courts to a much higher standard - wooden courts that screech every time you rub your Jordan soles on the surface, fibre board with shot clocks on them, digital screens as score boards instead of a movable chalk board and automated buzzer systems, and last but not the least, a gallery around the court.
“The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play 'Drop the Handkerchief'.” – James Naismith
The school tournaments organised nowadays is hyped to the closest coherence with the NBA games. And such was the most recent, and considered one of the most well organised inter-school basketball tournaments, Noushir Hasan Inter-School Basketball Tournament. With every nook and cranny of the school basketball court renovated, a 55-inch screen on the top right corner of the shade above the court, and shot-clock sensors at both ends of the board, St Old Boys Foundation hosted their third grand basketball tournament at Saint Joseph school premises on May 1.
The tournament is dedicated to one, Noushir Hasan, who during 1963, played in the national Pakistani basketball team and was later offered an athletic scholarship in Texas.
The organisers had so much to offer to the participants, as well as the viewers, starting from refreshments such as juice and cold drinks to free T-shirts and jerseys for the players. The whole school’s been decorated with long banners, ceiling to floor. Stalls are set up inside the school to provide free drinks and food.
The day started off with the inaugural ceremony and a match between Saint Joseph’s basketball team and BIS afterwards. Josephites were victorious on that match with 56-41 on the score line. Brother Robi Purification CSC (school principal), Syed Sogir Mahmood (brand manager, Olympic Industries Ltd), Rashed Maqsood (president, Saint Joseph Old Boy’s Foundation; managing director and Bangladesh Country Officer, City Bank, NA), and Amer Salim (vice president, Saint Joseph Old Boy’s Foundation; director, Knit Asia Ltd) graced the tournament with their presence during the inaugural ceremony.
Among the participating school teams, there are St Joseph Higher Secondary School, Notre Dame College, Dhaka Residential Model College, Dhaka Commerce College, Bangladesh International School, Dhanmondi Tutorial, Aga Khan School, Summerfield International School, in the senior category and St Joseph Higher Secondary School (Red), St Joseph Higher Secondary School (Blue), Delhi Public School, Sunnydale School, Baridhara Scholars’ Institution, Dhanmondi Tutorial, S F X Greenherald International School, Summerfield International School, Bangladesh International School, Scholastica School in the junior category.
According to the officials, the group stage matches continued till May 4. But the main attraction is the alumni match, said to be taken place on May 8. All the ex-students of the school who ever played basketball during their school life will be putting on a jersey and battling with the young bloods in a friendly match.
