Australian basketball team Ringwood Hawks to tour Kerala for International Hoopathon in November

Ringwood Hawks, the women's basketball team who play in the BigV league in Australia, will visit India in early November to take part in five matches against Kerala's All Star Women's team in five cities around the state for the International Hoopathon Series 2017. A number of local schools and colleges in each city of this tour will be invited to take part in skills and entertainment competitions.

The tour is being organised by Kerala's Team Rebound, the auspices of the Kerala Basketball Association and approval of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). This is the first time that Kerala is hosting an international women's basketball event.

"It is our endeavor to organise this International Hoopathon Series as the beginning of the Roadmap for Team India to improve its standing at the Asian level" said Mohammed Iqbal, the president of Team Rebound.

The Hawks already have a close relationship with India - and Kerala in particular. Ten years ago, India and Kerala basketball legend Geethu Anna Rahul played for Ringwood in Australia, becoming the first Indian women to play professionally abroad, and won MVP of the BigV division.

Ringwood Hawks schedule in Kerala - November 5-12, 2017

• November 5: Regional Sports Centre - Kochi
• November 7: VKK Menon Indoor Stadium - Trichur
• November 9: Indoor Stadium - Kottayam
• November 11: Jimmy George Indoor Stadium - Thiruvanathapuram
• November 12: VKN Menon Indoor Stadium - Calicut

PJ Sunny, President of the Kerala Basketball Association said "Such international matches will help the women's basketball to grow further in Kerala and KBA is extremely happy to be joining hands with Team Rebound."

During the 125th birthday of World Basketball last year, Team Rebound & KBA joined hands to organise the Kerala Hoopathon, where basketball was introduced to 12,500 kids between the ages of 10-12 across 125 schools in all districts of the state.

NBA-India’s Troy Justice holds camp for coaches and players in Kerala

Troy Justice, the Director of Basketball Operations of NBA-India, held a three-day basket ball clinic concluded at the Central Stadium at Thiruvanathpuram which concluded on Wednesday, June 8th. The clinic brought together 100 coaches and 40 players from around Kerala.

“The clinic was organised by Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) with the help of Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC). Troy came to Thiruvanathpuram with his aim or the aim of NBA in India which is to spread basketball at the grassroots level which would encourage more kids to play the game,” said P J Sunny, chairman of the selection committee.

The camp was held from June 6th - June 8th. Justice has indicated three priorities for the growth of Indian basketball: To ensure the growth of the game throughout the country, to provide a focus on the grassroots programme to encourage more kids to play the game, and then to train and develop quality coaches and players.

"The coaches were very engaged and had a strong desire to learn the technical aspects of the game," said Justice, "We covered a lot of advanced training with them in just a 3-day period. It was a very effective clinic and I felt very good about it."

He added: "We had high level players that were going through the drills and practices with us - So the clinic was very practical and hands/on, and involved some of the top players in the state."

Justice was assisted by Eban Hyams, a professional player playing in the Australian Basketball league. Hyams has represented Coastal Georgia Club, Sydney Kings, Singapore Slingers and also played for Galil Elyon Club in the ULEB Cup in the European circuit. He had his basketball schooling in America as well as Australia.

The three-day camp was also attended by few coaches from outside Kerala, including two international referees. One of these referees was Ramesh Kumar from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, who runs a Rural Basketball Trust. The camp also got the support from the players of KSEB, Kerala Police and the U-18 Girl’s team.

The last day went off with continuity offence, out of bounce moves, zone defense and offences. Players and Coaches had the chance to share their views and suggestions with Troy during the concluding session. Participants were given away certificates by Justice