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SOMALIA / BASKETBALL
STORY: SOMALIA / BASKETBALL
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: AU / UN IST / MUKHTAR AHMED MOHAMED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SOMALI / NATS
DATELINE: 7 JULY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA / JANUARY 2013, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
AU / UN IST - 7 JULY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
1. Wide shot, boys and girls during basketball clinic
2. Med shot, players on the court
3. Wide shot, young boys doing layups during basketball clinic
4. Close up, shoes on the court
5. Med shot, silhouette of players standing under the backboard
6. Close up, Hamsa Abdullahi Hussein’s face
7. Wide shot, Hamsa Abdullahi Hussein and other girls practicing free throws
8. Wide shot, Hussein making a layup
9. Med shot, backboard as ball enters the basket
10. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hamsa Abdullahi Hussein, Basketball Player:
“I didn’t have anything to do. I would spend a lot of time thinking and was very depressed. I started playing basketball, I really like it and it makes me happy.”
11. Med shot, ball being thrown on the backboard during a drill
12. Wide shot, Coach Hassan Ahmed Gelleh watching the players
13. Med shot, ball being thrown on the backboard during a drill
14. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Said Mohammed Sheikh, Basketball Player:
“Basketball has a role in building peace. Our country has been through a lot, and it’s better that the youth stay busy with things like basketball. It helps us to forget. Many of our friends are into smoking and are in militias, we can use basketball to get them out.”
15. Close up, Gelleh watching the game
16. Wide shot, players on the court
17. Med shot, players during the game
18. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hassan Ahmed Gelleh, Basketball Coach:
“We’ve come through very difficult times. Al Shabaab wanted people to participate in Jihad rather than play or even wear shorts. We still managed to hold some competitions, but girls weren’t even allowed to come to the court. We’ve had a lot of problems, but there’s a huge change now. Both men and women can come and play. Somalia used to be one of the leading teams in Africa.”
19. Wide shot, players during the game
20. Close up, ball entering net
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Yahaya Osman, Basketball Player / Entrepreneur:
“I was told it’s dangerous, I was told al Shabaab has the areas, but then I thought fear is the best way to control people. With fear in our minds, the youth and the people that studied abroad, that ran away from bullets, they won’t come back, they won’t invest their time in our country and if we don’t help each other, our country is going to be in bits and pieces, everybody is going to grab a piece. So it’s up to us to do something about it because this little bit of fear is consuming our minds and it’s keeping us away.”
FILE - MUKHTAR AHMED MOHAMED - JANUARY 2013, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
22. Wide shot, Somalia (white) and Burundi (red) playing a match
23. Close up, scoreboard
24. Wide shot, Somali supporters celebrating as Somali team wins game
Basketball is one of the world’s most popular sports. Sights like this, where young people are being taught the basics of the game should ordinarily not warrant a second glance or further inquiry.
But this is a training session in the Abdi Aziz district of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
Until about two years ago, sports and other forms of entertainment were forbidden in the large sections of Somalia that were controlled by al Shabaab, the al Qaeda linked extremist group.
The Somali National Forces, with the support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has driven al Shabaab from most of its urban and rural bases. These military gains have provided the security needed to catalyse recovery from decades of war, humanitarian efforts and social development.
And that’s why people like 16-year-old Hamsa Abdullahi Hussein are not only free to walk the streets of Mogadishu in relative safety, she’s started playing basketball in hopes of becoming a professional athlete one day.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hamsa Abdullahi Hussein, Basketball Player:
“I didn’t have anything to do. I would spend a lot of time thinking and was very depressed. I started playing basketball, I really like it and it makes me happy.”
The court belongs to Mogadishu’s Dekkeda basketball club, which runs free clinics every day for the likes of Hamsa and her friends, and other local youth who would like to learn the game. Dekkeda is the top team in the city’s 13-member association, which is fully recognised by the Ministry of Sports, but funded by the private sector.
Said Mohammed Sheikh and several other Dekkeda players are regularly called up to the country’s national team.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Said Mohammed Sheikh, Basketball Player:
“Basketball has a role in building peace. Our country has been through a lot, and it’s better that the youth stay busy with things like basketball. It helps us to forget. Many of our friends are into smoking and are in militias, we can use basketball to get them out.”
Dekkeda’s coach, Hassan Ahmed Gelleh, played for the national team in the 70’s and tried to keep the sport alive even after the country fractured in 1991.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hassan Ahmed Gelleh, Basketball Coach:
“We’ve come through very difficult times. Al Shabaab wanted people to participate in Jihad rather than play or even wear shorts. We still managed to hold some competitions, but girls weren’t even allowed to come to the court. We’ve had a lot of problems, but there’s a huge change now. Both men and women can come and play. Somalia used to be one of the leading teams in Africa.”
Basketball and other sports are also serving as an oasis for people like Yahaya Osman. He was only three months old when his parents fled Somalia’s internal conflicts. After growing up in the US, and playing hoops at college level, he’s returned to lend his skills on-and-off the court to help rebuild his home country.
SOUNDBITE (English) Yahaya Osman, Basketball Player / Entrepreneur:
“I was told it’s dangerous, I was told al Shabaab has the areas, but then I thought fear is the best way to control people. With fear in our minds, the youth and the people that studied abroad, that ran away from bullets, they won’t come back, they won’t invest their time in our country and if we don’t help each other, our country is going to be in bits and pieces, everybody is going to grab a piece. So it’s up to us to do something about it because this little bit of fear is consuming our minds and it’s keeping us away.”
Earlier this year, Somalia’s debuted its newly formed national team at a regional tournament, where they beat Kenya and Burundi.
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