WNBL launch offers fresh start for women ballers in Indonesia

NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen's Women's Basketball Worldwide) - Amidst the glitz of a historic EuroLeague Women Final Eight later this month, it would be easy to overlook the significance of a landmark event happening on the other side of the globe.
 
For the first time since 2008, competitive women’s basketball at the senior level is back in Indonesia with the brand new Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) due to be re-launched on 14 March.
 
This is exciting news not only for women’s basketball both in Indonesia and the Asia region but also for the women’s basketball family around the globe.

It’s always a real thrill and pleasure to hear about women being given new opportunities to showcase their skills and passion for the game we all love so much.
 
The WNBL is very much the brainchild of Azrul Ananda, head of the very successful DBL High School League in Indonesia as well as the men's National Basketball League (NBL).

It will see five teams play each other for a spot in the final at the end of April with three of those teams having been resurrected from the ashes of 2008 when the last league was mothballed having run for just over 12 years.
 
Of course, with only a handful of clubs competing and lessons very much to be learned from the previous league (known as ‘The Kobanita’), it’s likely to be a project we should all watch with interest. Especially since it’s likely to be a case of the organisers needing to take baby steps and use an incremental approach to growth in order to gradually attract more teams and players each year.
 
While this first season is likely to simply test the appetite in terms of exposure to the commercial world, the media and sporting public, it would be absolutely terrific if Indonesia got behind supporting the WNBL so the desired ‘clustering effect’ is successful and it can mushroom in size and strength.
 
The direct benefit of having a new vibrant WNBL would also be potentially complimented by significant spin-offs and in particular, giving young players a more structured and aspirational pathway – something which could provide a springboard to success for the national team in the medium to longer term.
 
For despite picking up four wins from five games in the second tier of the 2011 FIBA Asian Championship for Women in Japan, the current shortcomings in terms of having a limited talent pool and experience to choose from was exposed when Indonesia had to use primarily university/college players at the Southeast Asian Games last November.
 
Having failed to win a game against a backdrop of heightened expectations, it proved to be a really tough tournament for a roster of players of whom more than half were born in the 1990s. But, nevertheless, thanks to the arrival of the WNBL, things could be about to look up.
 
With those young players who participated at the SEA gaining valuable experience and showing flashes of real promise, this will be supplemented moving forward by even younger players who will be able to map out a three-stage journey of high school competition, higher education competition and then if good enough and given an opportunity, on to the WNBL.
 
Not surprisingly, one man delighted with the development is national team head coach Bill McCammon.
 
“This is great for Indonesian women’s basketball because not having a women's national league definitely slowed down progress during the past few years” explained the play-caller.
 
“Consequently a lot of women stop playing at an early age to study full time or work.
 
“It's certainly not easy to continue continuity of the national team without a competitive national women's League.”
 
He continued: “We were fortunate to have people like Azrul Ananda, Hasan Gozali (national women's team manager and President of the Tomang Sakti Mighty Bee's Club in the WNBL) along with Perbasi (the Federation) support us for nine months training prior to last year’s Asian Championships and SEA Games.
 
“This is definitely a major step and will help a great deal in the development of women's basketball in the future.
 
“It’s exactly what is needed for the girls and women in Indonesia to play competitive games and give the national team a chance to evaluate the talent to improve and put together the various youth teams as well” added McCammon.
 
 “With the results in Japan expectations went way up for the SEA Games which were all losses but with a basket or defensive stop here or there, they could have been wins.
 
“Overall, I think Indonesian women's basketball is moving in the right direction.”
 
I am sure I won’t be the only one outside of Indonesia wishing everybody involved good luck with this new project and I certainly hope it will be a hugely successful venture!

Paul Nilsen

FIBA

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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