Ball'In Schools program continues mission to develop grassroots basketball in Turkmenistan

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - FIBA Regional Office Asia's Ball'In Schools program continued expanding its impact throughout the continent with a 4-day program in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from 15-18 December.

Ball'In Schools is a grassroots basketball development project that aims to help plant the seeds of love for the game of basketball at a young age, especially in schools. In previous years, Ball'In Schools programs were held in Bhutan, Laos, and Oman, which were well-received in each respective country. In 2022, Ball'In Schools was also organized in Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Palestine, Lebanon, Qatar, Mongolia, Jordan, Iran, and Kazakhstan.

The program addresses the current and common challenges that slow down the development of basketball, such as the insufficient presence of the sport in schools; the absence of age groups competitions and tournaments, or the low quality of basketball infrastructure and limited accessibility. Ball'In Schools does so by empowering local ambassadors with a program to push for basketball in schools. These programs are trained by experts selected by the FIBA Regional Office Asia, where the ambassadors use what they've learned and take the initiative further to introduce or raise awareness.

Serdar Durdyev, a participating basketball coach said:  "I received quite a significant amount of knowledge in regards to the proper implementation of what has been planned. Different exercises, and different strategies were discussed which widened my outlook on the coaching process. I enjoyed watching the exercises we all had fun as a group while designing and implementing our own short program.”

The idea behind Ball'In Schools is the empowerment of local ambassadors to have a self-sustainable grassroots development program. Having more players and increasing the demand for basketball on its own should be the driver of the program to lead to long-term growth of basketball.

FIBA