Update from New Delhi YMCA

I’ve been coaching (volunteer) in New Delhi since April 2009. Every Saturday from 6-7:30 PM I’m on the courts with the young adults from 8-30 and they are there with me eager to learn a game that is taking off exponentionally in India. I travel a lot for my job with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and everywhere I go in Inida I see basketball courts!

I’ve been talking a lot with the young adults about team and what that means and how no matter which team we’re on, whether at home, in the classroom or on the court there are certain commanalities that we need to be aware of. I’m trying to get out of the one-on-five mode, to not necessarily be a star, but to be part of the flow. I’ve explained that even Kobe needs his teammates, for without them there are no championships, but only very long summers waiting for the next season. I’m trying to teach the fact that basketball is about life, something that we can carry with us as long as we live. I’m teaching boys and girls to play together and respect one another, to be non-gender specific on the court and to really see and appreciate the skills of their teammates.

One of the frusturations that I’ve encountered is that the youngs adults are at a variety of levels from playing for the first time to playing at the college level. During the past year I’ve mixed up the teams so that all different levels play together but I’ve noticed that this is somewhat tough for the higher level players, both females and males. Recently I’ve decided to establish teams, non-gender specific, of players at similar levels. I appoint these teams at the start of the evening, so that they stretch, focus meditate and go through all of the drills together before we play. This is actually working and we have been able to create a level of competition, so that, everyone plays very hard.

The really cool part is that I’m seeing progress and it excites me to no end. I can also see it in the faces of the young adults as they start to “get it”. I teach a 2-3 zone defense using a yoga move that I call the lion to get everyone to play aggressively. This doesn’t seem to come naturally with some of the young adults, especially the younger girls, but they get a laugh and then I see them getting up in a taller boy’s face and they start to get it. I see a more experienced young man, giving the ball to a guard who is a young woman and letting her bring the ball up the court and they start to get it. I see the extra pass being made and I know that they are all getting it.

I give all of the youngsters immediate feedback, constantly stopping play to either provide a critique or slap a hand. They’re understanding what a team means and to depend on their teammates. The question, of course, is when they are not at the YMCA are they going back to their old style or remembering what we talk and practice. I’m hoping that the constant persistence on my part helps them to really learn and appreciate the game.

I’m so happy to be in India at a time when the NBA has really ramped things up. Troy Justice seems like the right guy to represent the NBA and I full appreciate all of the work that he is doing across this great country. Life is full of opportunites, right place, right time. On the NBA website it mentions where Amazing Happens, I can think of a better place for the further global development of the NBA than in Amazing India!