POKHARA (Nepal) – Across Nepal, from the back alleys of Kathmandu to the neighborhood courts of Pokhara, teenagers pick up a basketball every evening and play until the light runs out. It is a routine that repeats itself in city after city, night after night, powered entirely by the players' own love for the game.
Among them is 13-year-old Sonic Gurung, who plays on an outdoor court in Pokhara.
“I want to keep playing basketball because it brings me joy, and I get to play with my friends. It also teaches me teamwork, and how we can help each other grow and succeed,” Sonic said.
A Love That Grew on Its Own
In Nepal, there are no indoor arenas built for professional training - not in Pokhara, not anywhere in the country: no sponsorships, no televised games, no clear path to go professional.
What there is, instead, is a patch of concrete and a hoop. The courts are inadequate, equipment is expensive, but kids still show up anyway, evening after evening, simply because they love the game.
That is how basketball has grown in Nepal, through a passionate community. Neighborhood courts, informal coaching passed from player to player, and a devotion to the game that has quietly built a basketball culture of its own.
Not Just a City Game
The same scene plays out in schoolyards during breaks, on courts after classes end, and even among children who do not go to school at all but still find their way to a game.
In villages set high in the hills and mountains, far from any city court, the game is still played on whatever flat ground can be found, at altitudes that would leave most players catching their breath before it even starts.
There is no league up there, no equipment beyond a ball and a hoop nailed to a post, and nobody playing for a scholarship or a scout -just the same pull that brings Sonic to the court in Pokhara every evening.
Dreaming Big
For Sonic, basketball did not start with a program or a club. It started at home.
My grandfather really inspired me to play basketball. He really liked sports, and he taught me.
It is a recurrent story in Nepal, where the game tends to spread in this way, it always has - through family, friends, and neighborhood courts, passed from one generation to the next.
Since the creation of the Nepal Basketball Association, basketball has continued to gain momentum, supported by an increasing number of initiatives that are using the game to empower and inspire young people.
Stories like Sonic's are what keep basketball moving forward in Nepal, one player and one court at a time.
As more young players pick up the game - in Pokhara, in the hills, in cities and villages across the country - that same passion is quietly building something bigger than any single court could hold.
***
About FIBA Foundation
The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.
The FIBA Foundation believes that basketball has the power to empower, educate and inspire youth and facilitates this by implementing Basketball For Good projects around the world.