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Tall order: Students of Hoang Hoa Tham and LeVan Tam primary schools play in the Ha Noi Primary Basketball tournament. The Viet Nam Basketball Federation plans to promote the sport in schools. —VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong |
The plan is the first step towards developing basketball among kids to make up for a lack of investment over the past 25 years that has left the country floundering at the bottom of the ASEAN rankings.
The sport has already been recognised as an alternative form of physical education at secondary schools such as Ha Noi-Amsterdam, Le Van Tam and Quang Trung.
Basketball is also popular in universities and colleges throughout the country.
The VBF estimates that there are approximately 6,000 amateur players across the country, 100 of whom play professionally for eight men's and five women's teams.
The federation wants to increase the number of regular players to 10,000 by the end of 2012, which it hopes will lead to the discovery of fresh talent.
"It's the best way to develop basketball in next decade. We want to popularise it in schools over the next two years in the same way other powerful basketball playing countries have," said VBF general secretary Nguyen Quoc Quan.
"However, we need the co-operation of local sport administrations and schools to nurture grassroots basketball," he said.
Quan also complained that most communities don't want to finance projects that don't result in instant success.
"Basketball is a team sport, not like athletics, martial arts or other individual events. Communities think that building a basketball foundation for kids would be a waste of time," he said.
The sport has been played in universities since the 1990s, but it has only recently taken off in schools in Ha Noi, HCM City and Nha Trang.
The federation, established in 1962, organised the first national championships in 1985, but the sport suffered for 10 years from a lack of investment and elite competition.
The country's women's team bagged a bronze medal in the ASEAN Basketball Championships in 2004, which was the pinnacle of the nation's achievements in the sport.
Although basketball has been included in the Olympic Games since 1932, the national administration is still reluctant to promote it as one of the country's top sports, over doubts Viet Nam can be successful.
"It's possible to win gold medals at regional games in martial arts like karate, taekwondo, silat or wushu, and also in athletics, but not basketball," Quan explained.
Basketball centres have already been set up in HCM City, Yen Bai, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Ca Mau, Binh Duong and Quang Ninh but Ha Noi has only one surviving women's team left, sponsored by Vietnam Airlines.
Four years ago, the VBF made it possible for domestic teams to sign two foreign players with one allowed on the court at any time.
Teams from Can Tho, Soc Trang and the HCM City- based Joton signed players from the Philippines, China and Mongolia on loan deals.
Joton, who were the first team in Viet Nam to be owned by a business – Joton Paints – were established five years ago as an amateur team.
They gained promotion to the premier league in 2006 and came third at the national championships earlier this year.
"We decided to form an amateur team because basketball is a popular sport in HCM City. The team's success persuaded the VBF to allow us to play in the basketball premier league," said Joton's team manager Pham Sy Hung.
"Joton invests VND2 billion (US$100,000) per year in the team. It's a great effort to manage a team in the premier league," Hung added.
However, the team still doesn't have its own court, due to the cost of renting a gymnasium in the commercial hub city.
"Teams must be run as profitable businesses like football and volleyball teams. The change will help basketballers increase their incomes and promote the quality of the game," Quan speculated.
Players for HCM City and Joton receive the highest wages in Viet Nam, earning from VND7 to 8 million ($350-400) each month.
High wages have helped Joton lure top players such as Phan Van Luyen and Trinh Nhan Duc from Soc Trang.
However, the team plan to establish a centre in the city as part of a 10-year project, which will include a youth training centre for different age groups.
Earlier this year, the VBF also organised its first ever national U17 tournament in Ha Noi, which for the previous eight years, had been run by 16 local amateur teams. — VNS
