India U18 Women's Basketball Camp from July 9
Following the unfortunate news of India's non-participation in the ongoing FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup, BFI President Mr Aadhav Arjuna makes a series of welcome announcements.
Speaking to Ekalavyas.com in an exclusive interview on the issue of India’s non-participation in the ongoing FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup, BFI President Mr Aadhav Arjuna has voiced his strong support for the affected players.
Last month, Ekalavyas.com had broken the unfortunate news of the Indian girls being forced to miss out on continental competitions for the second straight year.
India U18 Women’s Camp
To make up for this missed opportunity, the BFI President has announced that there will be an Indian U18 women’s camp from July 9 onwards for the top 30 prospects from this year’s 74th Junior National Basketball Championship that was held in May.
3x3 U18 World Cup; International Tournament in Russia
The camp will select the Indian U18 women’s team that will be participating in the upcoming FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Hungary from August 24 to 30.
Thereafter, the BFI President also announced that the Indian U18 Women’s basketball team will be participating in the World Friendship Games to be held in Russia from September 15 to 29.
100% College Scholarship Promised
The BFI President also expressed the Federation’s readiness to support the top 30 U18 Women’s prospects with 100% college scholarships at its partner academies at Manipal University, Karnataka and St Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai.
‘SABA/FIBA Must Answer’
The BFI President assailed the ‘first come first serve’ rule applicable in the women’s section only, as gender discriminatory and questioned why the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) cannot conduct Qualifiers instead. With the persisting failure of SABA to conduct such Qualifiers, he wondered why FIBA Asia is not directing the former to do so.
“If SABA doesn’t have money, India is ready to spend money to conduct these Qualifiers,” Mr Arjuna said, while pointing out his intention to formally write to the FIBA Global Body flagging this issue. “Teams must be chosen on merit and standard. The FIBA World Body must react,” the President said.
The President asked the U18 Women’s players to not lose hope, requesting them to focus now on the senior divisions and upcoming National Leagues. He also emphasized that he can be reached via his personal Instagram, or through the official BFI email id (basketballfederationindia@gmail.com), to resolve any/all grievances.
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