The Indian Dream: NRI tries to change the face of Indian Basketball

Local Media coverage of Shahid’s basketball exploits in Jammu & Kashmir. Top Right, Shahid gives an interview for a popular radio channel. Bottom Right, as a guest on a Talk Show for national broadcaster Doordarshan Kashmir.

Srinagar Summer Basketball League

This stint so moved him, that months later, Shahid returned to Kashmir, determined to transform his home state by teaching them the game he loved.

“I went from one high school to another, and in 2011, I decided that Delhi Public School, Srinagar, would be the venue of my summer league.”

His work had just begun. “I was basically on my own. The only marketing that I could manage was a Facebook page and word of mouth.” As it turned out, that was all the publicity needed. In a state starved of opportunities for its youngsters, in sports or otherwise, ten teams registered for the inaugural edition of the ambitiously named Srinagar Kashmir Basketball Association (SKBA) Summer Classic Basketball Tournament.

Finally, Shahid had the chance to assess the quality of his Kashmiri peers. “The talent was limited, but before this tournament, there was no basketball in Kashmir.”

He dug deeper, encountering a series of stumbling blocks along the way. “After about two to three weeks of the summer league we were asked by the school authorities to stop.” This would not have surprised other young Indians, who are very well used to having sports initiatives nipped in the bud by school and college authorities, where the focus is solely and wholly on academics. But to Shahid, this blow was hard to handle.

“They told me that they didn’t want students from other schools and colleges to use the DPS Courts.” Shahid had long since completed his recce of the courts in Srinagar. He knew that DPS, Srinagar had one of the few functional indoor basketball courts in the entire state.

“Courts in Kashmir are non existent. Outside of the High Schools, for which entry is limited for the students of that particular school, there is only one basketball court in all of Srinagar, belonging to the local Islamia college, which is open to all those who want to play. That one though is extremely dilapidated. The rim hangs loose from the boards and there are large cracks on the cement court.”

He managed to convince the school authorities to let him complete the league but was booted out immediately after. “I didn’t earn any money from the Kashmir league. There were only five to six serious young players.”

The domino effect of poor basketball infrastructure in school, absence of coaches and the consequent presence of players with no technique or skills can be seen at the senior level as well. In the senior nationals, the highest level of basketball competition in India, consisting of teams from all the constituent states, Jammu & Kashmir languishes in the second division.

“The J&K team itself consists of a majority of players from Jammu Police, most in their 40s,” Shahid says. “There is also the problem of skewed representation in favour of Jammu players in the State squad, with virtually no player from the Kashmir region to have played for the State.”

As a state, Jammu & Kashmir comprises three regions, the northern most Kashmir Valley, the Southern Jammu, and Ladakh, to the South East. Geographical and administrative difficulties restrict the entry of players from remote locations to tryout for the state team.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Basketball Association which is the recognized federation in charge of development of basketball in the State, is head quartered in Jammu which is a 10 hour drive from Srinagar. This makes regular accessibility to training camps and tryouts impossible for the handful of talented players from Kashmir. There has been no Basketball Federation of India or JKBA organized event in Kashmir in the last 20 years. Not even a single J&K player has ever represented the national team in India’s history. As for the J&K girls’ team, they are definitely at the bottom struggling to score even six to eight points.”

F23BC – Setting up a professional ball club

The painful assessment of the standard of basketball in J&K complete, Shahid turned his attention to the national capital of Delhi.

“In 2012, I contacted TJ Sahi (an electrifying yet eccentric point guard from the northwestern State of Punjab who keeps moving in and out of the Indian squad). I told him that I want to put up a team to compete with other domestic clubs such as Punjab Police and ONGC. He joined me in Delhi and we began the process of setting up a professional team which came to be named ‘Formula 23 Basketball Club’ or F23BC.”

The idea was to bring together under one roof, the top five to six basketball talents in the country and take part in all sorts of tournaments in India and abroad. “There are a number of top quality players of Indian origin in the US. I wanted to bring them to India and start an International club of Indian origin players who would be paid to play.”

This ambitious plan stuttered and failed. “We got as far as practicing and tryouts. Since this club is not affiliated to the Basketball Federation of India, our application to take part in important national tournaments was rejected.”

Despite the setback, Shahid is optimistic about contributing to Indian basketball. “I do not want to give up on the idea of a club just yet. I’m an independent person, a tourist basically. I want to be honest (about the condition of basketball in India), but, at the same time, I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes.”

In April 2013, Shahid Ahmad Bhat returned to Srinagar, India for two months, and worked with kids across age groups. He continues to be on the lookout for collegiate and pro talent in and around Delhi to restart his basketball club.

An abridged version of this feature, published in the September Issue of The Caravan Magazine, can be found here.