Basketball awaits lay-up from officials

By Purushottam Kattel

KATHMANDU, May 1: Basketball, notwithstanding somewhat complicated rules, is a sport that appeals majority of school and college goers in the Kathmandu valley. Unlike other popular pastime sports football and cricket, basketball requires a small space thus making it one of the ideal sports for country like Nepal.

But the sport, whose playing courts would often decorate most of the capital’s school and college premises, is yet to spread its wings.

The Nepal Basketball Association (NBA), after remaining idle for long, showed some sign of activity by holding a referee clinic but basketball experts and practitioners alike here feel that the association should think beyond holding such one-off programme.

"NBA has been too slow in promoting the sport," says Zaheer Khan, member of the organising committee and technical coordinator of the annual Amrit Trophy Basketball tournament. "Besides, the association has failed to coordinate with the referees and teams."

NBA, established in 1996, was reformed in 2000 and subsequently affiliated to the basketball’s world ruling body – Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) later that year.

NBA, while conceding that the body had remained in oblivion in past, claimed to have been active since being reformed two years back. "We are doing our best despite our limited resources," said Sita Pandey, general-secretary of NBA.

She lamented that the association, despite having number of attractive ideas on the game’s promotion, has failed to go ahead owing to lack of budget.

"The association is yet to receive any financial assistance from the National Sports Council," she said. "Whatever the association has done over two years was possible through funds contributed by its own executive members."

And under the present situation, it is highly unlikely that NBA, as well as other sports associations for that matter, would receive funding from the country’s apex sports governing body.

"The government has drastically curtailed its budget to the sports sector, making our task to keep up with sports activities only more difficult," said Binod Shankar Palikhe, the member-secretary of NSC. "We do have plans to improve facilities aimed at promoting basketball in the country. But we are unable to do anything until the situation improves."

But some basketball enthusiasts still see some avenues from where NBA could generate funds to pursue with its programmes.

"NBA could generate funds if it comes along with interesting programmes," says Nirakar Yakthumba, the principal of Gyanodaya School.

Yakthumba, who has been actively involved with the school’s annual inter-school basketball feast regularly organising inter-school basketball competition – Gyan Carnival, further adds: "Host of companies are keen to be part of sports events. Eicher was the main sponsor for the last year’s Gyan Carnival."

Meanwhile, Pandey, who is heading for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend the congress of Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) taking place there on May 4, said that she would request the ABC for possible support for a coach training and solidarity course. Besides, she informed that the NBA will organise a 16-team National Basketball Championship for both men and women from May 11.

Yak & Yeti selected for Jr Weightlifting C’ship

Post Report

KATHMANDU, May 1: The executive committee for the upcoming Junior World Weightlifting Championship approved the low priced bids for the arrangements of warm-up hall, competition hall and scoreboard in the second round meeting held on Wednesday.

According to National Sports Council (NSC), Hotel Yak & Yeti, which was the lowest
bidder among the five-star hotels, will host all the officials and weightlifters. This is the first instance that tender has been called from hotels for any sporting event in the country.

The 28th men and 8th women World Junior Weightlifting Championship, scheduled for May 28 - June 5 in Kathmandu, is expected to draw around 300 participants from the world.

The meeting was presided over by the Minister for Education and Sports and chairman of the executive committee Amod Prasad Upadhyay. Also present in the meeting were Minister of State for Education and Sports Narayan Prasad Saud, NSC member-secretary Binod Shankar Palikhe, president of Nepal Olympic Committee Rukma Shamsher Rana and other members of the executive committee.