DOHA – If there’s one way to ensure basketball has every chance of thriving in the future, it’s to engage with young people and to try and offer them the opportunity to at least get the feel of a basketball in their hands at some point during their childhood.

And, it looks like this scenario will be near enough guaranteed for each youngster in Qatar after the Qatar Basketball Federation announced that it was to ensure all children living in the nation will benefit from being handed a free basketball in the very near future.

In line with the wider vision and strategy to further develop and ignite passion for basketball in Qatar, H.E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, President of Qatar Basketball Federation and Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, recently initiated this exciting new project.

Working with a local sponsor, the Qatar Basketball Federation has been able to ensure the allocation of 50,000 basketballs for the project, an initiative which seeks to get more kids playing basketball on the streets and in every playground in Qatar.

Speaking at the project launch at the Al Wajba Hall of the Qatar Olympic Tower, H.E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani was quick to highlight how he considered basketball as one of the key sports that can pose self-challenge and increase physical and mental strength, whilst simultaneously instilling both discipline and determination.

He said, “Exercise and training are necessary to excel.

“Basketball is not just about shooting some baskets. It takes a lot of exercise and training to develop a set of skills for the sport.

“A continuous effort is needed, along with determination and self-discipline, and this at times, poses a challenge for kids aspiring to become good basketball players.

“Our dream is seeing the youth in Qatar being engaged in a noteworthy sports activity that is both wholesome and beneficial.”

He added, “Through this promising project with the free basketballs, we hope to see every child in Qatar holding a basketball, shooting some hoops and achieving physical and mental fitness.”

This latest venture is one of several steps which the Qatar Basketball Federation Board is taking to try and establish basketball as the number one participation sport in the country, whilst at the same time, attempting to place Qatar on the world basketball map.

FIBA