THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF A BASKETBALL COACH - II

There are two ways of becoming a better coach - one is you train elite players and are officially recognized. The second is you use your instincts to train young and new players. If you love the game enough - the coaching ability grows on you - you learn to create chemistry between different people - maybe the methods are not exactly from the text book. This rubs off on your students who become innovative players and learn to enjoy the game - and develop a fervor and passion equal to your own.

My students were good - but often the tournaments we went to - were arranged in a way to favor the host team. This created a feeling of `frustration' in all of us. So we organized tournaments ourselves in which a fair opportunity was given to all teams.
I was stepping into unknown - uncharted territories - but I had to give a logical conclusion to my players who were becoming better and better. The idea to create an year long league came up - it was a visionary thought - A.B.L.E. CUP became a mile-stone in promotion of basketball in Bangalore city. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be a basketball player. But these were still early days. And suddenly we stepped into another NO NO ZONE - young players like my son became coaches. We had broken the code - and now we could go wherever we wanted. Senior players donned the role of coaches, officials - and I became the VOICE for hundreds of `tournament starved' children.

AN YEAR LONG A.B.L.E. league took every ounce of energy I had - it left my finances and family in shambles - but I was ready to pay the price AND I DID. But when the final moment came in Beagles basketball court - it was gratifying. SUCCESS has its price tag. Different pressures from different directions - slowly started nibbling at our programme. We couldn't follow up it with other grandiose plans that I had envisioned. Printed pamphlets and book-lets still lying in my cupboards - of almost 10-12 years ago - to tell the story of failed dreams.

But I didn't give up. The idea of going to every school and be a `honorary coach' slowly germinated. I was breaking fresh ground - I was learning fast - but it was painful. THERE WAS NO SUPPORT from any side - and slowly my ideas and the support I had withered away. My career as a coach had slowly ended and I started calling myself as a promoter. It was sheer madness - a man who always was bankrupt was talking of networking ONE HUNDRED SCHOOLS. The vision I had seen for myself - slowly crystallized in the shape of SUMPOORNA BASKETBALL SCHOOL. But there were family responsibilities too. I had come so far - and now I looked to GOD. I asked him for help - and HE CAME. Finally I had a back-up. It was time to go - and another journey began. This time I had a smile on my face. To be continued -----