ISLAMABAD (Pakistan) - Sana Mahmud is a former international multi-sport athlete from Pakistan who attended the FIBA Foundation’s Asian Mini Basketball Convention. Following her participation in the event she implemented various programs to help girls and young children in her community.

Within her work with the NGO Right To Play, Sana also uses sport and basketball in particular to address social issues. She shared the following Basketball For Good story that took place during one of the Right To Play projects with the Foundation:

As part of one of our sport-based girls’ empowerment programs at Right To Play, we organized a 3-day basketball training camp at one of the local public courts in Islamabad. The focus of most of our work with children, including tournaments and trainings camps, is not to make professional athletes out of them, but rather allow them to experience the joy of sport and the multiple life and leadership lessons you can learn from it and most importantly, just to have fun.

15 girls from our regular partner schools participated. These schools are privately-run charity schools with no school fees, located on the outskirts of the capital city where resources are scarce and access to education, especially for girls, is a challenge. Right To Play partners with these schools to integrate its sport and play-based life skill development program to help protect, educate and empower children to rise above adversity (as is our mission).

I was facilitating this particular camp with the kids! On Day 1, at the tail end of our session, as we were cooling down, two little out-of-school girls showed up and lingered around our camp. We didn’t get a chance to interact much as they mostly kept to themselves, but they seemed very curious about our equipment (so many basketballs!) and what we were doing there.

On Day 2, as I was running sessions on the court, I noticed 5 out-of-school children sitting on the side and watching us; one little boy with an oddly shaped rubber ball (it appeared to be the remnants of the inside of a ball). When asked if they wanted to play with us, they eagerly nodded and three of them- two girls and a little boy- joined us on the court.

Given that they were far younger and shorter than the teenagers who were part of the training camp, I had them play separately for a bit and then got them together with the larger gang. Their athletic ability was amazing. As unfortunate as it is, perhaps surviving on the streets is what has taught them to run, jump, and throw like they did. They were, however, extremely feisty and needed to be reminded not to pull each other’s hair or clothesline tackle each other!

On Day 3, as I parked, my car was surrounded by 10 children excitedly waiting to be invited to play. “Do you all want to play?” I asked, eager nods all around as they ran behind me to enter the park. It was utter chaos. Each kid attacked a basketball, wanting to grab it and keep it for themselves, and started dribbling across the court. Though we didn’t speak the same language (I could gauge they spoke a combination of Pashtu/dari/farsi), I was able to help them understand the rules of some team games.

Barefoot, without access to the best nutrition, and probably with a looming responsibility of having to collect and sell garbage/scraps to meet the daily quota, these kids had an electric energy. I had to force them to take water breaks to hydrate themselves.

While we only had a 3-day camp, our team went there on Day 4 to make sure we capitalized on the greatest thing we had going for us – their interest. If even for an hour every morning, we can give them the joy of their childhood, the innocence and carefreeness that play offers, we think it can make a difference. We will also simultaneously try to explore if we can get them enrolled in one of the “kachi-abadi” (slum/make-shift schools) in those areas. And if we try harder, who knows what other opportunities we could open up for them!

For now, I am grateful and humbled to be a part of their lives if even for 3 days….and I pray we gave them something that children on the streets often leave behind- hope. This is the power of basketball. This is the power of sport.

About Mini Basketball:

The FIBA Foundation’s Mini Basketball program is a global Basketball For Good initiative to improve health and well-being of 5-12 year old children and to fight physical inactivity and childhood obesity. It is an inclusive grassroots basketball movement addressed to girls and boys and their parents and uses fun & game based learning. Please contact us if you want to know more about our programs or if you are interested to work with us.