THE intensity of a basketball game tests the contestants and provides thrilling nonstop action for spectators, but when the teams are youngsters and the spectators are their families, it is difficult to convey the excitement on the court.
That was the case recently at Jeddah United’s Back to School Three-Man Basketball Tournament. The two-day event pitted team against team in 8-to-11-year-old and 11-to-14 year-old divisions. Boys also demonstrated their prowess in contests of foul shooting and a junior slam-dunk competition. Nine teams participated in all, each heralding its own color: Red, Yellow, Blue, White and Green.
Jeddah United, an organization dedicated to popularizing sports in the Western Province, got the idea for a youth tourney after its successes initiating a Women’s Division.
“Basketball directs kids’ energy in a great way,” said Umar Abdul Salam, who started organizing the Youth Division last year. “It combats smoking, drugs and hours and hours of kids playing violent videogames.”
The main objective of the Jeddah United Co. is to promote sports and basketball and teach children the essence of family values, self-esteem, team work, team spirit and team leadership.
As head coach, Abdul Salam used his wealth of off-season experience with NBA players including Kareem Abdul Jabbar and “Dr. J” Julius Erving, to give the youngsters the competitive edge they demonstrated during the tournament.
Besides Abdul Salam, Coach Othman Barnawi, captain of Alwihda Club, Lina Almaeena, captain of the Jeddah United Women’s Basketball League and CEO of Jeddah United Co., managed the event with active help from Hazma Alireza, Maha Binladen, Dania and Sara Almaeena, Rabia Abdullah, Rania Zahran and Marwa and Nora Ashrour.
Referees, timekeepers and scorekeepers all were volunteers from the community. They included Ezzodeen Ashrour, Amin Bahartha, Waleed Rashwan, Mohammad Azzam and M. Lourey.
McDonald’s restaurants and Toys-R-Us sponsored the event with support from the Sports Bag Shop, Shawrma Almashi restaurant chain and Creative Circle advertising agency.
It is no surprise that the youngsters had a great time, but watching their children or grandchildren in tourney play for the first time proved to be surprisingly exciting for the families.
“It was good of Jeddah United to organize the tournament and involve the families,” said Nuhha Azzam, mother of Junior Division player Qassim Alireza. “It was a pleasure watching our kids play the game.”
“I am so proud that my two sons won first place,” said Ghaida Fatany, mother of Junior Division teammates Ryan and Ayman Islam. “At the same time, I’m very happy that I attended this event with their Dad for the first time, which made me feel that we are doing something together as a family.”
Beyond the awards, all the players have the added reward of knowing they have advanced athletics in Saudi Arabia and scored a great victory in popularizing basketball as a youth sport in the Kingdom.
“Everyone showed a great spirit,” said Lina Almaeena. “It wasn’t about winning or losing, because in reality everybody was a winner.”
Win or lose, it sure beats sitting around playing videogames in a darkened room. “They had a lot of fun,” said Ghaida Fatany. “That’s the most important thing.”
The Results
Winners of the First Junior Division was the White Team. It was captained by Ryan Islam and comprised Ayman Islam, Qusai Marzoogi and Makram Gussaini.
Winners of the Senior Division was the Green Team. It was captained by Marwan Assad and consisted of Abdul Majeed Hashim, Ahmad Qattan and Abdul Aziz Zaidan. In Senior Division Second Place was the Blue Team. It comprised Abdul Kareem Abudawood, Ibrahim Abudawood, Hussein Angawi and Yousef Hashim.
Second Place Junior Division: Blue Team: Abdul Majeed Madani, Mohiedeen Kayal, Sultan Abuzaid and Hamid Ashrour.
Third Place Junior Division: Green Team: Faisal Gussaini, Faisal Bakhsh, Mohammed Madani and Qassim Alireza.
Fourth Place Junior Division: Yellow Team: Zaid Alireza, Adnan Abdul Majeed, Qussai Amoudi and Faisal Bagadir.
Third Place Senior Division: Red Team: Siraj Attar, Faisal Sarhan, Abdullah Lourey and Qusai Assad.
Fourth Place Senior Division: Yellow Team: Mansour Madani, Mohammed Binladen, Yazeed Murad and Hisham Attar.
The Most Valuable Player was Marwan Assad who highlighted the event by being a great team player and winning the dunk competition. He demonstrated before the audience how Saudi boys can really dunk! Ibrahim Abudawood also showed off his great talents in the slam-dunk competition with fancy moves and jumping over his teammate Abdul Kareem Abudawood and slamming the ball through the hoop.