Bangalore edition of BFI-IMG Reliance College Basketball League started this week

From Monday, March 17th, the Bangalore edition of this season's BFI-IMG Reliance College Basketball League tipped off with a an opening ceremony at the New Horizon Engineering College, Sarjapur. The league - organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), IMG Reliance, and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBA), will feature 10 teams each in the Men's and Women's divisions as they play in the home-and-away format. Bangalore has already hosted a similar school-level league which tipped off three months ago.

The college league is part of BFI-IMG Reliance's nation-wide attempt to increase high-level competition in major Indian markets. This season, they have set out to organize both college and school league's in a record eight cities (Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ludhiana, Indore, and Kolkata), each featuring the same format and the same number of teams (10 Men, 10 Women).

The college winners from all the states will participate in the National Champions Cup to be held in April/May, 2014 in New Delhi.

In the matches this week, Surana College Men beat Presidency College 44-22 after Surana was leading 23-12 in half time. St Joseph Commerce College downed Sindhi College 51-16, SBM Jain College defeated BMSCE 37-10 and New Horizon Engineering College overcame RV College of Engg 53-35.

In the Women’s section, Mount Carmel College beat BMSCE 44-33. Roshini scored 16 points for Mount Carmel College and Aanchal finished with 18 for BMSCE. Aishwarya scored 13 points; Prithika 12 and St Joseph Commerce College beat SBM Jain College 54-48. Simonelle finished with 30 for SBM Jain College.

Follow more results via the BFI here.

BFI-IMG Reliance tips of College Basketball League for the season - starting in Hyderabad

In the exact same mould of the School Basketball Leagues that are being held (or have recently concluded) in various cities around India, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG Reliance have launched this year's BFI IMG Reliance College Basketball League. The first step of the league tipped off in Hyderabad with 10 men's and 10 women's teams on December 30th. The Andhra Pradesh Basketball Association also worked in conjunction to organize this competition.

Just like the School League, the College League will be held in eight cities around the country: last year's returning cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai, and two new additions in Indore and Hyderabad. 10 men's and 10 women's teams will participate in each city. The college winners from all the states will participate in the National Champions Cup to be held in April/May, 2014 in New Delhi.

The launch of both the school and college leagues in India signifies an important step in strengthening basketball at the grassroots level in India and make it a bigger part of the daily life of young Indians. As hoops grows in the biggest Indian cities - and then passes on to smaller and smaller towns - it will lay a foundation for the eventual Indian professional basketball league.

According to the BFI, one of the main goals of the College League is to start the first pan-India League, as opposed to the current system of competition, which is usually in the form of tournaments. As part of the 2013-14 College League, BFI and IMG Reliance have put aside money for each participating Colleges for refurbishments of their home courts. With the help of the State Basketball Association, BFI and IMG Reliance hopes this initiative will incentivize colleges to invest in basketball.

Here are the Participating Teams at the league in Hyderabad:

Men

Group A: Loyola Academy, Bhavans Degree College, Mallareddy Engineering College, Muffakham Jha College of Engineering and Technology, Nizam Degree College.
Group B: AV College, St. Martin's Engineering College, Avanti Degree College, BITS Pilani, CVSR College of Engineering.

Women

Group A: Loyola Academy, St. Ann's Degree College, Kasturba Degree College, CVSR College of Engineering, Gokaraju Nukaraju Engineering College.
Group B: Narayanamma Engineering College, St. Francis Degree College, St. Martins Engineering College, BITS Pilani, Government College of Physical Education.

Bangalore's 2013-14 BFI-IMG Reliance School Basketball League tips off

After getting a successful kick-start in various cities around the league, the modified and expanded version of the 2014-14 BFI-IMG Reliance School Basketball League tipped off in Bangalore on December 18th. Bangalore is the latest stop of the ongoing league, which is being held in eight Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Indore, and Chennai.

Like every other city, Bangalore is fielding 20 total school teams in the league - 10 each in the boys' and girls' sections respectively.

Participating Teams

Boys

Group A: Vidyaniketan School, New Horizon Public School, National Public School (Rajaji Nagar), Sri Kumaran's Children's Home, Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Group B: Bishop Cotton's School, Delhi Public School (South), Mallaya Adithi International School, St. Joseph’s Indian High School, Shantiniketan High School.

Girls

Group A: Bishop Cotton's School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mary Immaculate High School, Stella Maris High School, PPEC Indira Nagar.
Group B: Sri Kumaran's Children's Home, Mallaya Adithi International School, National Public School (Rajaji Nagar), Nirmala Rani High School, Carmel Convent High School.

According to the BFI, one of the main goals of the School League is to start the first pan-India League, as opposed to the current system of competition - tournaments. BFI and IMG Reliance have put aside money for each participating School for refurbishments of their home courts. With the help of the State Basketball Association, BFI and IMG Reliance will be hoping that this initiative will incentivize schools to invest in basketball.

Kolkata tips off their edition of BFI IMG Reliance School League

The 2013-14 BFI-IMG Reliance School League tipped off in Kolkata on Saturday, November 16th, with a grand opening ceremony at the West Bengal Basketball Association Grounds. On the largest year of the School Basketball League's in India which aims to oversee tournaments in eight cities over two months, the league in Kolkata has followed on the heels of league's already tipping off in Ludhiana, Hyderabad, and Delhi over the past few weeks.

The School League in Kolkata was inaugurated by by MP & Arjuna awardee Prasun Banerjee and Guest of Honour Ajit Banerjee, the president of the Bengal Olympic Association. DPS (Megacity) and La Martinerie will be defending their title this year in the Boys' and Girls' categories, respectively.

Participating Teams

Boys

Group A: DPS (Megacity), South Point, St. Anthony, La Martinerie, National Gems.
Group B: Khalsa High School, Chetla Boys School, Bharatiya Bidya Bhavan, Nalanda Vidyapeeth, Khalsa English High School.

Girls

Group A: La Martinerie, Chetla Girls School, Loreto Eliot, Loreto House, Rashmoni Balika Vidyayala.
Group B: Sushila Birla School, Nalanda Vidyapeeth, Calcutta Intenrational School, Calcutta Girls School, Modern High School.

BFI-IMG Reliance School Basketball League tips off in Delhi

Continuing the biggest ever season of the BFI-IMG Reliance School Basketball League, the capital city of Delhi will now play host to the 20-team tournament. 10 boys' and 10 girls' teams have been scheduled for this year's league from around the city.

This year's BFI-IMG Reliance School Basketball League is slated to be the biggest in history, featuring tournaments in eight different Indian cities amongst 1,920 kids from 160 teams over two months. The league's have already tipped off in Ludhiana and Hyderabad in the past few weeks.

Participating School Teams in Delhi

Boys

Group A: DPS (RK Puram), Oxford School, GD Goenka School, Bluebells School International, Air Force Bal Bharti School.
Group B: DPS (Mathura Road), Montfort School, Modern School (Barakhamba), Ahlcon International School, St. Xavier's.

Girls

Group A: DPS (RK Puram), GD Goenka School, Air Force Bal Bharti School, DPS (Vasant Kunj), St. Thomas School.
Group B: DPS (Mathura Road), Montfort School, Modern School (Barakhamba), Bal Bharti (Pritam Pura), Sachdeva Public School.

GD Goenka Boys and Girls both got off to winning starts, each tallying two wins in Pool A of their respective genders. Oxford School and DPS Vasant Kunj are tied at the top of Pool A for boys and girls respectively.

Find more results from the Delhi School League here.

BFI IMG Reliance School Basketball League starts in Hyderabad

The BFI IMG Reliance School Basketball League continued in its second city of the 2013/14 season - Hyderabad - from the launch day on Monday, November 11 at the YMCA Secunderabad. 10 teams in the boys' section and 10 girls' teams will be competing in the competition.

The 2013-14 BFI IMG-Reliance School Basketball League returned with it's biggest iteration ever, going to a record eight Indian cities between October and December, 2013. The tournament will be held this year in New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai. The school winners from all the states will participate in the National Champions Cup to be held in April/May, 2014 in New Delhi. The Ludhiana leg of the season tipped off a few weeks ago.

The Hyderabad tournament was inaugurated by former Indian international player LC Umakanth. DRS International School and Oakridge International School started off their campaign on a winning note on the first day.

Here are the teams participating in the Hyderabad league:

Boys

Pool A: Oakridge International, Future Kids, St. Andrew's High School, Gitanjali School, Kennedy The Global.
Pool B: Chirec Public School, Hyderabad Public School, DRS International, St. Joseph's High School, Indus World School.

Girls

Pool A: NASR School, St. Francis Junior College, St. Ann's High School, Holy Family, Chirec Public School.
Pool B: Future Kids, St. Ann's Junior College, Hyderabad Public School, Delhi Public School, St. Pious Girls High School.