Basketball
The top local ballers discuss the growing popularity of basketball in the country. If you ask them, the sport is definitely on the rebound.
While cricket and football remain two of the most watched and played sports in Pakistan, basketball, especially in cosmopolitan cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, is becoming one of the fastest growing ones in the country.
“Basketball is one of the most liked sports by young people in Pakistan. There are public and private institutions where there are facilities and students can come and play. Also, students can get a chance to study in schools, colleges and universities on the basis of basketball scholarships, which has also added to the development of the sport,” says Lahore-based Aqib Javed, an international basketball player who is currently representing Wapda’s basketball team and working as a teacher.
Karachi-based Omair Pasha, 28, grew up in New York and has been shooting hoops since childhood. He says the basketball scene in Pakistan is promising, and as far as Karachi’s landscape for the game is concerned, people from nearly all age groups are playing the sport.
“The basketball scene is promising as local players are making moves to make the sport more popular. We have guys and girls playing ball from ages 13-43 on a regular basis,” explains Pasha.
Meanwhile, Islamabad-based Sana Mahmud, who was the captain of Pakistan women’s basketball team and has played for HEC, Army and the Islamabad city team, paints a completely different picture.
“There’s a small niche: handful of people who appreciate, know and love the sport,” she says. “Basketball has never seen a rise in Pakistan nor is it on the rise in Pakistan. Like football, basketball in Pakistan was hurt by politics. If you don’t take politics out of the game, then there is no future for it. However, the game definitely has potential because it requires one ball and lots of players. It is inclusive, many people can play it at a time. Every sector has a park in Islamabad and there’s a court too, but the utilization of that space is debatable.”
So how does it work? Are their formal tournaments or the local players from the cities organize the games themselves to keep the sport alive?
Javed says it is a mixture of both. “We have formal groups and a formal setup here in Lahore. There is a lot of competition too. Around 10 to 15 good local clubs participate in different basketball competitions which happen every month or at least every two months.”
“Secondly a lot of students play ball in schools, colleges and universities regularly. However, more tournaments are still needed,” he continues. “Also, the Higher Education Commission organizes an Inter-University Basketball Tournament annually and the best three teams are always from Lahore. The University of Central Punjab has won the tournament on the last nine occasions. I was a part of that team. So, in Lahore, basketball is not a side sport.”
Whereas, Pasha says there is a city-based association in Karachi which organizes tournaments at Arambagh playground, but they also themselves organize monthly tournaments in the city.
“Karachi Basketball Association organizes tournaments at Arambagh. We also have a formal tournament set up that invites local teams every month to compete in a city-wide tournament. The national team is usually made up of players who compete in this tournament. Aside from that, we have set up amateur tournaments as well with a turnout of close to a 100 people.”
However, the picture is not the same when it comes to women’s basketball in Pakistan as Mahmud outlines.
“For girls, it’s particularly difficult. It’s a marginalized sport. It is neglected whether it is for boys or girls. Girls have it harder each time because boys can gather in a public court, but that is difficult for women,” she says.
“There are access, transport and curfew problems, then there is the debate of whether public spaces are safe for them or not. So, two to three years ago, I started this group Lady Ballers on Facebook, and I did the same for football. The idea was that whoever wants to play can just sign up and then we decide a day every week to play. Some months are highly active, some are off.”
“For girls, their commitments, academics, work, social obligations and simply anything such as the wedding season can be a distraction as nearly no one comes to practice in December. So, ours is an ad-hoc setup.”
Javed and Pasha both believe there is a future for the game in the country, but a little push will surely help in making it more popular. The latter notes that they are constantly trying to encourage youngsters to start playing.
Meanwhile, Mahmud believes investment is one key aspect if basketball wants to become ‘the’ sport in Pakistan. “It is a joint process. Only good players are not important for the growth of a sport, you need to have investors too and only then a sport can grow exponentially.”
Regardless, all three are optimistic that with the right steps in the right direction, the future can be bright for basketball in the country.
“Basketball is a growing sport in Pakistan because there are a lot of young athletes who are playing the game nowadays, but we need to show them the right path,” concludes Javed. “And especially media should start promoting basketball because it can be organized with less resources and has a potential for great entertainment.”
