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In Iraqi Kurdistan, efforts to revive
women's basketball
19.4.2008
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April 19, 2008
SULAIMANIYAH, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', -- The
tallest player on the women's national basketball
squad is 5 feet 7 inches. She and her teammates
cannot practice in the Iraqi capital because of poor
security. And in northern Kurdistan, where they are
now based, they practice outdoors, often in frigid
temperatures.
Nonetheless, what they lack in height they make up
for in enthusiasm, said Deb Packwood, an American
consultant hired to develop the fledgling team,
which aims to raise its international profile and
someday compete in the Olympics.
Packwood, who played some college basketball at
Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, is working
on behalf of the Iraqi Basketball Assn. and the
National Olympic Committee, which are seeking to
revive a sport that has been crippled by war,www.ekurd.net
inadequate financial
backing and the growing challenges women face in a
nation that is increasingly religiously
conservative.
"The people, they don't like the girls to play,"
said team member Rajwa Abdul Ahad, 28. "They say,
'No . . . it's bad for you.' But I don't care
because basketball, it is in my blood."
Since the blond, American athletic consultant from
Global Sports Partners began making the rounds in
Kurdistan this year, Kurdish television crews and
local newspaper reporters have sought interviews and
flocked to tournaments. At one school alone, 85
girls expressed interest in playing, although
Packwood winnowed them down.
"I think we are the best place for women's sports in
all of Iraq," said Rizgar Mohammed Raouf, a physical
education professor at Sulaimaniyah University and
representative of the local basketball federation.
"Our community believes in freedom more than being
covered."
But building the team hasn't been easy, particularly
when the participants lack basic skills and the
coaches themselves have no formal training. Getting
funding in the soccer-crazed, male-dominated country
is also difficult, said Sameera Abdulla, head of the
women's sports office for the Kurdistan Olympic
Committee.
But Abdulla said the head of the National Olympic
Committee promised: "If I helped you before with one
hand, I will help you now with two hands. Let me
assure you, there is a chance for women." |
Girls practice basketball in Kurdistan, northern
Iraq. The Iraqi Basketball Assn. is trying to revive
the sport, which has been crippled by war,
inadequate financial backing and the challenges
facing women in a nation that is increasingly
religiously conservative. They've hired Deb
Packwood, an American consultant to develop a
fledgling team, with hopes, someday, of competing in
the Olympics.
First women's basketball school opened in January
2007 in Sulaimaniyah,
Iraqi Kurdistan |
As in many other sports,
the team is often overshadowed by the men's
basketball team.
With Abdulla's assurance, Packwood and the women
have moved full-tilt. This week the team traveled to
Syria to compete in the West Asia Women's Basketball
Championship, an event that has received almost no
media coverage. They were knocked out by Iran.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the ragtag
national team has competed a couple of times in
other Middle Eastern countries. The Iraqis were beat
soundly by women who towered over them, sometimes
losing by as many as 50 points.
"We cannot beat any team," Abdulla said, "but I
think we will get better."
There's just one other nagging issue, Packwood
recently joked: "They really are lacking tall
players here."
Dunya Najat, 26, of Sulaimaniyah did not begin
playing until she went to college -- in part because
her parents would not allow it. Now she is married
to the basketball coach and plays on the national
team. Her hope,www.ekurd.net
she said, is that Iraq
will become safer and that the team will be able to
travel again to Lebanon and Jordan. And from there,
who knows?
"I want to be famous," she said. "I want to go to
America to see how they play. I hope to see Michael
Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal."
Although the national team has several players in
their 20s, coaches have their eye on young talent,
girls who have expressed passion in the sport and
persuaded their parents to let them play. This
month, about 40 girls 12 to 14 years old have
started practicing with eight new coaches.
Kausar Mahdi, 17, said she has loved basketball
since seventh grade, but had been rebuffed by her
father. "He said: 'Care about your lessons. Care to
go to a good college.' But after three years, I
asked my father again and he said, 'OK.' "
She watched games at school and her father helped
her put up a hoop at home. "I'm not really good,"
she said. "I have to practice more."
Farther north in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan's
capital, 14-year-old Romrama Shamael Nano dribbles
and shoots in a brand-new gymnasium, where she joins
other aspiring female basketball players. Their gym
is the nicest in northern Iraq, but they can
practice and compete only when their coach isn't
busy with his three other teams.
"I want to be a very good player," Romrama said.
With the completion of the new gymnasium, the
players hope more tournaments will be scheduled so
they can do more than just practice.
"Now we have an opportunity," said Abdulla, of the
Olympic Committee. "Kurdistan is free. It is
different from the south and the middle. We want to
make the Iraqi people be together, especially in
sports."
In January 2007, a U.S. basketball coach
opened the first women's
basketball school in Sulaimaniyah
city in an attempt to revive the sport and boost its
popularity.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, latimes
com
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