Basketball in India - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Basketball Federation of India

In the government of the Basketball Federation of India

Basketball Federation of India

Basketball Federation of India is the governing and controlling body of Basketball in India, responsible for the development and promotion of the Sport at all levels. BFI oversees all the national level basketball operations in India...

, Indian Basketball follows FIBA International Basketball Federation

International Basketball Federation

The International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA , from its French name Fédération Internationale de Basketball, is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball...

rules for organizing basketball championships.

History

In India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, the game of basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

started its journey in 1930 when it was played for the first time. The first Indian National Championship for men was conducted in 1934 in New Delhi. The Basketball Federation of India

Basketball Federation of India

(BFI), which controls the game in India was formed in 1950. Throughout history, Indians learned to appreciate the game because of its fast scoring and intense activity from the beginning until the end.

Nowadays, it is considered as one of the widely played sports in India. India is one those first few countries in the history of basketball that adopted the game within a few years of its inception and its teams actually consisted of five players on the court.

Basketball in India Today

Basketball in India is played in most of the high schools, colleges and universities and especially the younger generation like to play this game. The game of basketball in India is played by both men and women of all ages and ability. Many government institutions have professional basketball teams, who work for the institution and play for them: ONGC in Uttranchal, Indian Overaseas Bank in Tamilnadu, Indian Bank

Indian Bank

Indian Bank is a major Indian Commercial Bank headquartered in Chennai , India. It has 22,000 employees, 1923 branches and is one of the big public sector banks of India. It has overseas branches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and 229 correspondent banks in 69 countries...

in Karnatka, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited is a state-owned telecommunications service provider in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India. The company was a monopoly until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers. Transparency makes us different- is the motto of the...

in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

, and Kerala Electricity Board play for their respective institution and state.

There are many championships for senior, junior, and youth levels for boys and gals. Invitational all-India tournaments like Master Prithvinath Memorial (New Delhi

New Delhi

), Don Bosco Invitational Tournament (Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

), Ramu Memorial (Mumbai

Mumbai

), and many other tournaments in the southern part of India are being organized every year. Unlike many other countries like America, Russia, China, and Japan, basketball in India does not follow seasons. Indian basketball has championships throughout the year for different age groups. The main purpose of doing that is availability of youth. Championship for youth are mainly organized between May to July when children are having summer break from school.

Being one of the earliest countries to adopt basketball, India has so far produced numerous talented basketball players, who have earned recognition and reputation in the international arena. Indian basketball players have also won several trophies for their country. There are several basketball players in India, who have been honored by the government of India through the prestigious Arjuna Award

Arjuna award

The Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll....

and Dhyanchand Awards. Hence, the number of Arjuna awardees in basketball is quite huge. Basketball in India is mainly being run and managed by a large number of national and state level associations, spread all over India. The Indian basketball associations are working with a common view of spreading the game in all parts of the country. Apart from that, developing the overall condition of the game and bringing up new talents from the grass route level are also some of the other principal objectives of the Indian basketball associations.
In india there are less players

JD Walsh Basketball School in India (JDBASKETBALL)

American basketball coach JD Walsh

JD Walsh (coach)

John David "JD" Walsh is an American basketball coach. Born October 25, 1972, Walsh is a native of West Islip, NY and currently resides in New York and New Delhi, India. Walsh graduated from University of Maryland, College Park in 1996.-Playing career:...

, a former player for the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

and current basketball coach, first came to India in 2007 to operate a social program Child Nurture and Relief (CHINAR), an organization that runs an orphanage in Srinigar, Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. They invited Walsh to visit and conduct a social program to aid in the psychosocial rehabilitation of the youth, and from this, Hoops for Health was born. This three-year program has won the Nike Sport for a Better World/Changemakers award for work with at-risk youth. Simultaneously, a young man wrote a note expressing his dream to become the first Indian in the NBA. In June 2007, Walsh agreed to visit Pune and show his skills and work with him and his club, Deccan Gymkhana. Walsh ran by some accounts (Times of India: May 28, 2007) the first ever American-style basketball camp in India for the two hundred participants in Pune (Fergusson College

Fergusson College

Fergusson College is a degree college in western India, situated in the city of Pune. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society and at that time was the first privately governed college in India. It is named after Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay, who donated a then...

), sponsored by the Maharashtra State Basketball Association.

JD Walsh JDBASKETBALL has conducted over 100 clinics in nine cities (Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, Midnapore

Midnapore

Midnapore is the district headquarters of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River . This area had taken a pioneering role in India's freedom struggle...

, Mumbai

Mumbai

, New Delhi

New Delhi

, Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, Patiala, and Trivandrum) for over 5,000 Indian youth. Working as a sports ambassador, Walsh has completed work with US Consulates in North (New Delhi), South (Chennai), East (Kolkata), and West (Mumbai) India and delivered programming for five State basketball associations throughout India (Maharastra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Tamil Nadu) and the Basketball Federation of India

Basketball Federation of India

, the governing body of basketball in India. He has led coaches' training sessions in Chennai Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (Sport Development Authority Tamil Nadu) and in Karnataka with Indian National Team Head Coach, Alexsander Bucan, for BFI and Olympic official Mr. Govinraj. Walsh received a special award of distinction from Pune Municipal Corporation on June 15, 2007 by party Mayor and Leader of the Opposition, Vikas Mathkari, and was special guest with David Hopper (US Consulate General, South India Chennai) to garland statue of Harry Buck, founder of India's oldest YMCA in Chennai on December 13, 2008.

In May 2009, JDBASKETBALL ran clinics in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi (Delhi Public School), and Punjab Patiala Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) with famous Indian coach, Ramesh Kelley. The Mumbai clinic sponsored by the Basketball Federation of India was held for over 700 in attendance at the Youth National Championships in Nagpada, Mumbai (May 14, 2009).

Recpieint of US Department of State Sports Initiative grant awarded with partner George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

and former Georgetown University Head Basketball Coach, Craig Esherick

Craig Esherick

Craig Esherick is an assistant professor of sport management for George Mason University and color commentator for college basketball games. He was formerly the head coach of the Georgetown University men's basketball team and assistant basketball coach and scout for the 1988 U.S...

and George Mason University professor Bob Baker

Bob Baker

-External links:...

to operate on ground coaches clinics and training for India coaches at George Mason University

George Mason University

He has been quoted in Indian Press as building a training academy in North India.

NBA in India

The National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

has realized the immense potential of the sport in this large and growing market, and is working hard with the Basketball Federation of India to expand the popularity of the sport.

Late in 2008, NBA great, Robert Parish

Robert Parish

Robert Lee Parish is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003...

, came to India as part of the NBA/WNBA Hoop School Program. This relationship further expanded into a cultural exchange, which saw Bollywood superstars Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and former Miss Universe.-Early life:Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and her mother is Jennifer Dutta...

and Dino Morea

Dino Morea

Dino Morea is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films and a former model.-Early life:Dino Morea was born in Bangalore to an Italian father and an Anglo Indian mother. He is the second of three brothers. Nicolo Morea is his older brother, and Santino Morea is his younger brother. His family...

make a trip to watch the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

in action, and on April 8, 2009, saw the NBA inaugurate a refurbished basketball court in a suburb in Mumbai.

IMG Reliance joint venture

In June 2010 a deal was struck with the BFI(Basketball Federation of India) and the IMG Reliance joint venture which aims to take Indian basketball to a professional level. The 30 year deal sees IMG Reliance take control of the game launching a league, controlling merchandise, developing infrastructure and other commercial aspects in this new development. The BFI will launch and control school and college leagues with assistance from the expertise of IMG. IMG Reliance will also construct academies in India in line with the IMG Florida sports academy. In July coaches from Florida came to India to select 8 boys and girls between the ages of 13-15 to take to the US on a scholarship. The first batch were selected and are preparing to undertake the scholarship at IMG Florida. More scholarships will be offered with the aim of launching Indias first professional league in 4 years. IMG chief Ted Fortsmann and Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani see the IPL as a perfect model to use and a franchise system is likely to be put into place.

At the moment the NBA are not involved with the joint venture but Ted Fortsmann is willing to work with the NBA who already run recreational leagues in India with another leading Indian business, the Mahindra Group. These are set in expand from the initial 3 cities to other parts of India.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

The Basketball Federation of India

History

Basketball in India Today

JD Walsh Basketball School in India (JDBASKETBALL)

NBA in India

See also

External links