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.

Thiruvanthapuram (Women) and Ernakulum (Men) retain their titles at 59th Kerala State Basketball Championship

After six days of intense basketball action at the 59th Kerala State Basketball Championship for Men and Women in Aluva, the cream rose to the top once again. On the tournament's exciting final day at Aluva's temporarily-built Carmel Club indoor stadium, the reigning champs from last year - Thiruvanathapuram (Women) and Ernakulum (Men) - both defended their crowns to lift the Kerala state titles.

Thiruvanathapuram's Women's side were led by Indian international Jeena PS as well as rising star Stephy Nixon. After last year's triumph, Thiruvanathapuram met familiar foes in the final once more - Palakkad - marking it the third consecutive year that these two teams had played each other in the tournament's finale. The match was evenly contested in the first quarter but Jeena (23) Grima Merlin Varghese (16) did enough to help Thiruvanathapuram pull away to a massive 47-24 lead. Thiruvanathapuram held on to their comfortable advantage, and despite a 16-point performance by Palakkad's Neenumol PS, went on to win the game 58-47.

The Men's final was also a rematch in it's third year running, between Ernakulum and Thiruvanathapuram, and Ernakulum were bidding to win the contest for the third year in a row. But unlike last year, this was no cakewalk for the holding champs. Boosted by their young talents like Arjun GK (18) and Umesh Krishnan (16), Thiruvanathapuram took an early lead and were up by 38-31 at halftime. But Ernakulum chipped away at the advantage in the second half and made a spectacular fourth quarter comeback to take the lead and secure a 69-62 victory for a three-peat of titles. Shinumon Augustine and Monish Wilson scored 18 and 16 points respectively to help Ernakulum in their triumph.

Thiruvanathapuram's duo of Jeena PS (Women) and Umesh Krishnan (Men) were adjudged to be the best players of the tournament and handed the P S Viswappan Gold Medal. The award of most promising player - named in memorial of P Paremeswaran Pillai - was handed to Thiruvanathapuram's Grima Merlin Varghese (Women) and Ernakulum's Nikhil KR (Men).

This year's Lifetime Achievement award name din honour of PC Thomas (former Coach, international referee, and technical officer of Kerala State Sports Council) was handed by the Kerala Basketball Association to PP Varghese, the secretary of the association, in recognition for his achievement in the field of basketball.

Earlier in the day, Thrissur had no problem dominating Ernakulum en route to a 48-29 victory and the bronze medal in the Women's division. The Men's bronze medal game was won by Kollam, who defeated Palakkad 58-38 behind 16 points each by Rahul Krishnan and SS Deepu. Palakkad's Shabu Kumar also added 16 in the loss.

The best performers of the championship will comprise of the state team to represent Kerala at India's Senior National Basketball Championship.

Thrissur teams lift 31st Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship trophies in Irinjalakuda

Thrissur's boys and girls under-16 teams both celebrated on Monday as the city bagged double titles at the 31st Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship, held at the Christ Vidyanikethan indoor basketball court in Irinjalakuda from August 14-18, 2014. In two close finals, Thrissur's girls scraped past Kozhikode while the boys survived an intense finish against Ernakulum.

In the boys final, Thrissur held on to a double digit lead at halftime, but Ernakulum made a brave comeback in the second half behind stellar performances by Ebin Wilson (20) and Joshua J George (18). In the end, Thrissur held on to a close 70-64 victory. Gokul Babu (20) and Gineeb Benny (17) led the scorers in the winning side.

In the girls final, it was Thrissur who were left to fight back after going down by eight at halftime to Kozhikode, the tournament's reigning champions. But behind a team-high 18 points by Aleea Seby, Thrissur never gave up and bounced back to edge for a 65-61 victory as the final horn sounded. Anusha IP led the game with 19 points for Kozhikode in the loss.

Gineeb Benny and Nimmy George - both of Thrissur - bagged the Best Player award in the boys and girls divisions respectively, instituted in memory of PKS Naidu, the former Technical Committee Chairman of Kerala Basketball Association.

In earlier games, Niya Scaria scored 18 points as Kannur secured the girls' bronze medal with a 57-44 victory over Pathanamthitta. Bronze medal in the boys' competition went to Kottayam, who had no trouble blowing past Alapuzha for a 45-25 win. Jacob Jaimon led the winning side with 16.

Kochi to host 2014 Junior (U18) National Basketball Championship

Kochi in Kerala, a basketball-crazed city in a basketball-crazed state, will be the hosts of India's 65th National Basketball Championship for Junior Boys and Girls, starting from May 26th - June 2nd. The 'Junior Nationals' will be organized by the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) under the auspices of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the city.

This national event will culminate with under-18 state teams from all across the country taking part, including 24 team's in the boys' section and the 23 among the girls. The Junior Championship is coming to Kerala after a gap of 37 years, with the last one being held back in 1977. Over a 1000 participants including referees, coaches, officials & members of the Indian basketball fraternity will be attending the championship in an official guise.

The Championship will be officially opened by Hibi Eden MLA, presided over by Arjuna Award winner and President of Kerala State Sports Council Padmini Thomas in presence of Secretary General of BFI Ajay Sud and Technical Committee Chairman G M Sampath Kumar.

Chhattisgarh (Girls) are this championships's reigning champions while Delhi (Boys) won the gold medal in Cuttack last year. Hosts Kerala will be hoping to challenge in both divisions once more, especially after their girls' side lost in last year's final. Punjab and Tamil Nadu are other top contenders in the boys' division while Maharashtra will be one of Chhattisgarh's top challengers among the girls.

The finals will be played on 2nd June 2014. The championship will carry a Prize money of Rs 1 lakh for the winners, Rs 75,000 for the runners-up and Rs 50,000 for the bronze medalists.

Ernakulum (Men) & Thiruvanathapuram (Women) win 58th Kerala State Basketball Championship

After five days of exciting basketball action, the finale of the 58th Kerala State Basketball Championship came down to a few familiar faces. On December 8, the Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur hosted a repeat of both the Men's and Women's Finals from last year. In the Men's competition, Ernakulum repeated their triumph from last season by thumping Thiruvanathapuram en route to a 89-48 win. Thiruvanathapuram were able to save some face in the Women's division though, when last year's losing side defeated reigning champs Palakkad 71-54 to snatch the gold medals.

Teams from 14 districts from Kerala battled for the honors in the Men's section and 12 teams in the Women's division at the state championship. The tournament was organized by the Kerala Basketball Association under the auspices of the Thrissur District Basketball Association.

Thiruvanathapuram's Women's team - led by India internationals Jenna PS and Stephy Nixon - showed no trouble getting some revenge on last year's loss for their big victory. Jeena was fearless throughout, leading the way with 37 points. Neenumol PS and Liji Mol of Palakkad added 18 and 17 points respectively in the loss.

An onslaught of offense led by Abhilash (27) and Monish Wilson (20) led Ernakulum to a repeat title victory over Thiruvanathapuram, who were paced by Vijobi Vakkachan's 19 points.

Earlier in the day, Kannur's Women side secured third place in the championship with a close win over Kottayam, 68-63. Premi P. Lal had an impressive 32 point outing for the victors, while Kottayam were led by young star Poojamol KS (19) and Minnu Marium (17). In the high-scoring men's third-place game, Pathanamthitta - led by Nicewin M (28) and Edwin Irvin (19) - outlasted Kottayam to score a 86-78 win. Akhil Mathew Sunny had a strong 30 point outing for the losing side.

The best performers of the championship will comprise of the state team to represent Kerala at India's Senior National Basketball Championship, slated for February 2014.

3-day Train the Trainers basketball clinic with Troy Justice in Kochi

The Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) along with Regional Sports Center (RSC) will host Kerala's second phase of the Train the Trainers Coaching Clinic in the state over three days from June 24-26 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kadavanthara, Kochi. The clinic will be laed by Troy Justice, the NBA's Senior Director of International Basketball Relations. Phase 1 of the programme back in 2011 attracted over a 100 coaches.

Along with coaches, selected players of the NBA's Generation adidas programme will also attend the clinic to be trained with Justice. Additionally, Justice will also work with the Kerala State Junior Girls basketball team.

The three-day event will include introduction to NBA/FIBA resources to coaches, clinics about different type of defensive coaching options, drills for team offense, NBA/FIBA offensive sets and plays, focused drills on player development, and Q&A sessions with Justice.

The RSC has imported 25 lakh rupees worth of basketball equipment from Germany, including tempered glass backboards, international quality rings, nets, electronic score boards and other electronic material. Justice will unveil the equipment along with PI Sheik Pareeth, the Distric Collector of Ernakulum on June 24.

Kozhikode to host Kerala's Youth Basketball Championship & Junior 3x3 Basketball Championship

The Kerala Basketball Association has announced that the city of Kozhikode is set to play host to two exciting basketball championships over the next week. The 30th Kerala State Youth Basketball Championship will be held from April 2-7, 2013 and the inaugural 1st Kerala State 3x3 Junior Basketball Championship will be held on April 6-7. Both competitions will be held in the boys' and girls' divisions.

Games will be held at the Silver Hill Indoor Stadium in Kozhikode. The championships are being held for the Sam Joseph, Shahil Muhammed, and Velandi Achu Master Memorial KBA tropies. A total of 14 teams each in both the boys' and girls' divisions have been chosen for the Kerala Youth Championship. The participating teams are:

Boys

Pool A: Kozhikode, Thrissur, Thiruvanathapuram, Pathanamthitta.
Pool B: Ernakulum, Kottayam, Kannur, Kasargod.
Pool C: Alapuzha, Wayanad, Malapuram.
Pool D: Kollum, Idukki, Palakkad.

Girls

Pool A: Kozhikode, Kollum, Ernakulam, Alapuzha.
Pool B: Kottayam, Thrissur, Thiruvanathapuram, Kannur.
Pool C: Pathanamthitta, Malapuram, Palakkad.
Pool D: Kasargod, Wayanad, Idukki.

The top three teams from Pools A and B and top teams from Pools C and D will qualify for the knockout round, which will begin on April 5.

Hosts Kozhikode are the reigning champions in both divisions. The teams to represent Kerala State at the National Youth Basketball Championship in Kolkata (West Bengal) from April 30 - May 7 will be determined on their performance at this tournament.

India is also holding its first ever national-level 3x3 basketball championships this year. The Junior (U18) National 3x3 Championship is set to be held in Ludhiana (Punjab) on April 18-19. Kerala's team for the tournament will be picked from the state-level performances at Kozhikode.

On April 6, Kozhikode basketball legends will be honoured at the event by PJ Sunny, the Chairman of the Kerala State Selection Committee.

Ernakulum (Men) & Palakkad (Women) win 57th Kerala State Basketball Championship

Riding on with their newly recruited players from Kerala Police, the Palakkad Women's team took their first ever Gold at the 57th Kerala State Senior Basketball Championship at the Govt Higher Secondary school at Manjeri. Ernakulum Men dethroned defending Champion Thiruvanthapuram to take the Men's title.

In an exciting final Palakkad took their maiden title as they beat Thiruvanthapuram, who were represented by members of Kerala State Electricity Board, 57-51. Neenumol PS and Surya PR top scored with 18 points each for the winners.

In the Men's battle, Ernakulum - comprised of players from Central Excise, Kochi - had to fight hard to beat Thiruvanthapuram 66-54. Ernakulum had a close 33-29 lead at half time. Monish Wilson came up with 17 points for the winners. Eudric Pereira had 15 points for Thiruvanthapuram.

In the Women's 3/4th place game, Kannur Defeated Thrissur 66-40 with their prolific scorer Jeena PS scoring 35 points. Pathanamthitta Men took the third spot after defeating Kollam 69-48.

The Kerala Basketball Association felicitated the members and coaches of Kerala teams which won the titles in the National school Games and National Youth Championship.

Awards were also distributed to individual players from the State rewarding their performances through the year. Eudrick Pereira and Neenumol PS won the P S Viswappan Memorial Gold Medal for the best player. Basil Phillip and Poojamol KS were given the Parmeswaran Pillai Memorial Cash award.

57th Kerala State Basketball Championship to tip off in Manjeri on Tuesday

14 Men's teams and 12 Women's teams will make up for large contingent of competitors who are set to take part in the 57th Kerala State Basketball Championship in the city of Manjeri in Malappuram District, Kerala, from December 4-9, 2012. The championship, which is being held at the Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School in the city, is being organised by the Kerala Basketball Association under the auspices of Malappuram District Basketball Association.

The tournament is being held in preparation for India's Senior National Basketball Championship, slated to held in Ludhiana, Punjab, in the end of December. Kerala's team for the Senior Nationals will be chosen based on their performance at this tournament.

This 6 day Championship will features 47 matches, which are scheduled to be played on a league and knockout basis.

A ‘Referees Clinic’ will be set up to familiarise the players with the newly implemented laws for the championship. International Referee Fr. Philips Vadakeekalam, Chairman of Technical Commission (Kerala), will lead the clinic on the venue from 1 PM on December 4th the opening day. This will be followed by a test for aspiring Referees on 6th December.

Thiruvanathapuram (Men) and Kannur (Women) are the defending Champions of this tournament. India's international stars Basil Phillip, Eudrick Perreira, and Jeena PS can be expected to take part in the championship.

Groupings

Men

• Group A: Thiruvanathapuram, Trissur, Alapuzha, Kozhikode
• Group B: Ernakulum, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Kannur
• Group C: Palakkad, Idukki, Wayanad
• Group D: Kottayam, Malappuram, Kasargod

Women

• Group A: Kannur, Trissur, Malappuram
• Group B: Thiruvanathapuram, Alapuzha, Kozhikode
• Group C: Ernakulum, Kollam, Wayanad
• Group D: Palakkad, Kottayam, Kasargod

Mahindra NBA Challenge to tip off in Kochi for first time ever

NBA India Press Release: The Mahindra NBA Challenge, the largest, multi-city, community-based basketball league in India, is tipping off in Kochi (Kerala) for the first time ever on July 21. Conducted in collaboration with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Kerala Basketball Association, Regional Sports Center Kochi and Ernakulum District Basketball Association, the programme will run for seven weeks culminating on September 2.

This year the Mahindra NBA Challenge will feature a new player development programme in each city called Generation adidas. 40 up-and-coming players from the boys and girls U13 and U16 divisions will be selected to participate in two exclusive Generation adidas clinics during the season in Kochi on August 17th and 30th. The top 8 players will be selected from the clinics and will receive one year of specialized training and adidas basketball gear.

This marks the NBA’s first programme in Kochi, showcasing the league’s commitment to growing basketball across the country. The Kochi League will feature 120 teams and games will be played at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The programme has already been held in Mumbai and Delhi this season, and following the Kochi stop, will be held in Bangalore and Ludhiana. The five-city league features eight divisions total for males and females: sub-junior for ages 12 to 13, youth for ages 14 to16, junior for ages 16 to 19 and adults ages 19 and over.

For the first time, the Mahindra NBA Challenge will feature a National Championship which will take place in Delhi on October 4-7, 2012. The winning teams from the Senior and Under 18 divisions, for both Men and Women, in each city will travel to Delhi to compete for the championship and train with an NBA Legend!

The Mahindra NBA Challange programme has rapidly expanded since its introduction in 2009 with the number of teams participating doubling in season two. The programme has helped to identify and develop top basketball talent, with the Indian National Team extending training camp invites to 20 male and female players that participated in the Mahindra NBA Challenge.

26th Federation Cup to be held in Kochi from March 14-18

The best club sides/units from India's top states will face each other in the 26th Federation Cup National Basketball Championship for Men & Women, which is set to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi (Kerala) from March 14-18th, 2012. The tournament will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Kerala Basketball Association.

There are special eligibility rules for the Federation Cup, which are based on the top eight Men's and Women's teams from the previous year's National Basketball Championship, completed in New Delhi in January 2011. For the Men's championship, the champion club/unit in each state's inter-state basketball championship will be invited to play in the Federation Cup. For the Women's championship, the state teams themselves take part. Indian Railways are represented by the Railways champion unit in both the Men's and Women's championships.

Men's Section The Champion District/Unit/Club of the State Championship/Inter District/Inter Unit of the following States/Units are eligible to participate taken on the basis of the placings at the 61st National Basketball Championship held at Delhi in 2011:

1. Indian Railways
2. Services
3. Punjab
4. Kerala
5. Tamil Nadu
6. Uttarakhand
7. Chhattisgarh
8. Andhra Pradesh

Women's Section The Women's teams of the following States are eligible to participate on the basis of the results of 61st National Basketball Championship held at Delhi in 2011 but in the case of Indian Railways the Champion unit of Inter-Railway will represent:

1. Champion Unit of Inter-Railway
2. Delhi
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Chhattisgarh
5. Maharashtra
6. Kerala
7. Andhra Pradesh
8. Punjab

The 2011 Federation Cup was held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh last year. Western Railway won the Men's tournament while hosts Chhattisgarh got their hands on the Women's trophy.