Hoops of delight: How 1400 underprivileged kids spent a day learning basketball

Tenth standard student Preeti, a tribal village girl at Vajreshwari, about two hours' drive from Mumbai, had not known what basketball was or how a basketball court looked like until she joined Hi5 Youth Foundation's coaching programme.

Nikhil, also from the same area, is grateful to the opportunity provided to express his skills at basketball on a full-fledged court complete with floodlights built by this non-profit organisation in their attempt to improve the lives of the under-privileged children.

Preeti and Nikhil are not isolated cases. In Mumbai city, Saddam, Sneha Yadav, Kajal Gupta, Rakesh Verma and Mairaj Shah are among the 1,400-odd under-privileged children largely from nine BMC school across Mumbai city who are beneficiaries of the free round-the-year basketball coaching provided by Hi5.

Hailing from nearby slums with their parents working hard to make both ends meet, some as daily labourers, vada pav seller, tailor or as auto rickshaw drivers, the lives of these children would have gone haywire but for the interference of Hi5 in their lives.

Sneha's father used to be a wrestler and initially discouraged her from taking up the sport. Hailing from Varanasi and born in a family of four sisters, the Class 8 student of Unnat Nagar BMC school also had to cook for her family.
Class 8 student Ajit Yadav used to get up at 3.30 am and wash auto rickshaws before reaching school. He was late to a basketball session and when asked, he was ashamed to reveal the reason to his coach Kevin Francis. Ajit later revealed the exact reason for being late.

Francis appreciated his efforts to support the family and told him that it was a matter of pride. Taking it in the positive way, Ajit finished whatever work he had to before school timings and not get late for basketball coaching.
The lives of these under-privileged have changed for the better after free basketball coaching provided to them by Hi5.

It all began in April 2015 when R Sundar and his wife Usha wanted to do something in the social sector relating to sports.

Hi5 provides everything that the children need for basketball including their jerseys and shorts and shoes. It is just that they need children who cannot afford fees for coaching to turn up, register for their coaching programme and play basketball.

As the seeds for this basketball programme were being sown, in January 2015 Sundar met former state-level player and coach of the state women's team, P Ramaswamy at a gathering and brought him on board for guiding him in running the programme.

Fifty-one-year-old Ramaswamy, known as Ramesh in his basketball and friends circles, is the son of Late G Parameswaran, coach of the Indian women's team from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. Ramesh designed detailed coaching programmes for the kids for various stages – the beginners, intermediate, advanced and elite – a four-year programme. Since it is in its third year now, the elite level is yet to be reached. In Parameswaran's memory, Hi5 recently constructed a basketball court at Chembur Children's Home, their second own court after the one in Vajreshwari.

SPREADING WINGS 

What started with YMCA Ghatkopar has spread to other suburbs and even to the outskirts by mobilising children through people close to them.

"Our second centre, St Arnold School in Andheri (E) was possible due to my car driver. His child was studying in that school and seeing the interest among the kids in Ghatkopar, he asked 'why don't you start a similar camp in this St Arnold School?' He took it upon himself to mobilise children in that area and what started as a summer camp there has not extended to the rest of the year," says 61-year-old Sundar.

Today, Hi5 has a total of 1,400 children in 14 centres. The nine BMC schools benefitting are Goshala and Dindayal in Mulund, Baradevi in Sewri, Dixit Road in Vile Parle (E), Motilal Nagar and Unnat Nagar in Goregaon (W), Pahadi in Goregaon (E), DN Nagar in Andheri (W) and Deonar BMC School. Besides, they also have area programmes at Ghatkopar YMCA, Sarvodaya and St Arnold while Residential programmes are held at Vajreshwari's Gadge Maharaj Ashram school and Chembur Children's Home.

PROFESSIONAL MANNER 

The organisation is serious about its endeavour and its approach is professional. They screen kids and admit only genuinely-interested ones.

Ramesh says: "We conduct regular tests just like they do for subjects in schools so as to understand what the children have learnt."

In a way, attending Hi5 coaching clinics is like attending school, mainly for the coaches and those running it. While for BMC schools, it is during school hours and at a time that they don't clash with academics, the coaches are hired full-time, part-time and also on session-by-session.

Such has been the avenue created that coaches from private clubs line up to join this organisation, says Usha. The Sundars and Ramesh call all the coaches on the last day of every month for a review meeting and discuss the way forward.

"Don't argue with the referees, especially in front of the children. Hitting children is certainly not on," Sundar reminds his coaches at one such meeting.

"We have to set some standards. Bigger than the team is the organisation and the purpose why we are here. Hi5 should be famous for its discipline," Ramesh tells the coaches.

GETTING NOTICED 

They have conducted two annual intra-Hi5 tournaments. They are a regular in schools tournaments in the city and have even upset a couple of private schools like Don Bosco and Bombay Scottish. The 'green brigade' Hi5 BMC school hoopsters don't go unnoticed. Such has been the number in different age categories that they enter tournaments as individual BMC school teams.

Saddam says: "When we go to school tournaments, other city schools are surprised that we BMC school players can also beat them."

Coach Kevin adds: "Other schools often wonder that one green uniform team has finished and the next one has come. In three years of existence, the BMC school teams are doing very well."

Their hoopsters are slowly getting noticed. Sneha and Taslim Sheikh, also from Unnat Nagar, through the Junior NBA programme, will represent Mumbai All Star team in New Delhi in April. Nalini Bhusara from Vajreshwari has attended school national trials in Kolhapur late last year. "This is an achievement for her as about 18 months ago, she did not know what basketball was. The point is she was being spotted," says Ramesh.

TEACHING LIFE'S LESSONS 

In its first two years of existence, Sundar has paid for the programmes from his own pocket to the tune of Rs 25 lakh and more than Rs 1 crore, respectively. "Last year, BookMySmile, the charity wing of BookMyShow, has agreed to support 500 BMC schools children on the western suburbs," says Sundar.

It is not just playing basketball that Hi5 focusses on. "Basketball Skills + Life Skills with Fun = Great Youth" is their motto.

Kajal says that Hi5 has helped her become a better person. "The discipline, punctuality, talking to people well have been the plusses," she admits.

Mairaj Shah, another young cager from Motilal Nagar BMC school, says that the body language has improved. "We are not lethargic any more. The life skills we learn through basketball are shared at home. The atmosphere at home has changed for the better as we teach our parents what we learn at playing basketball."

Also making a difference is the Unnat Nagar school physical education teacher Shubhangi Lalit Churi. She had to visit the cagers' homes, especially girls', to convince the parents to send them to basketball rather than doing nothing at home.

"Their parents are not scared anymore to send their children for basketball tournaments. They know that once they finish school, their future will be good," says Churi.

WHEN SATNAM CAME CALLING 

Volunteer Simar Bhatia went to the IMG Academy in Florida for her love for basketball. Her senior at IMG Academy was Satnam Singh, India's first to be drafted into NBA in 2015. When he came to Mumbai for a visit last October, Simar called Satnam to drop into one of Hi5's centres in Motilal Nagar.

He spent two-three hours with the children and gave them basketball tips, even playing with them. "The children had a memorable experience that Satnam showed no signs of rushing back," recalls Sundar.

Also volunteering the foundation is Spanish national Roberto, whose wife works in US Consulate in the city. "Roberto is so keen with what we are doing that he has promised to spread the word about Hi5 in his country and see how he can facilitate an exchange programme," says Usha.

EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 

There has already been an exchange programme between Hi5's Deonar BMC school and American School, BKC and the experience was memorable for both the school students. "Deonar kids got to experience an indoor, air-conditioned court for the first time when they visited the American school while for the American kids, it was an experience of basketball being played on an outdoor court and also visiting a school with so many children in a small compound," says Sundar.

Such visits, including getting the tribal children from Vajreshwari to visit Mumbai city, which they have never done previously, and give them a taste of the urban life and even win tournaments against city players is among the missions of Hi5.

"Mentally they are fit. Physically they are fit. Their economic background is not sound. Now it is being provided for through basketball," says Usha, underlining the foundation's goal.