NIMS-Sharjah eye top spots

NIMS-Sharjah skipper Abhil Dev Arun is sandwiched between DPS-Sharjah’s Abraham and Pratheek during the semis of the DPS Sharjah International Basketball Tournament. — Supplied photo

Dubai: The CBSE curriculum-based sports scene is highly competitive in this part of the world and in disciplines like basketball, swimming and athletics (track) the levels achieved are on par or higher in comparison to the institutions following the same stream in India.

The CBSE all-India tournaments where the Gulf champions are represented are a few tiers below in standard compared to the mainstream open schools events which culminate in the national school games.

Having said this, the platform available in the Gulf for all expat children following the CBSE pattern is well organised and the provision to pit the best here against the winners of the India-based zonals is a welcome change for those who believe in an all-round development of a child rather than just confine oneself to the rigours of the tough academics in maths, science and commerce.

Three pioneer physical education instructors with previous backgrounds in basketball at the state and university levels put basketball on the UAE schools stage by conducting the first ever inter school championships in 1989.

The three main stalwarts who today with the assistance of numerous volunteers, have conducted nine Indian Basketball Society Leagues in Dubai over the years.

Rajan Job, formerly of the GEMS group of schools; T. Ali, coach of Delhi Private School-Sharjah, the top CBSE schools basketball outfit in the UAE especially in the girls divisions; Vijayakumar, coach of the strong New India Model School-Sharjah teams; and Sanjay Benjamin, currently head of the sports department at Skyline University College-Sharjah, are all still hands-on when it come to the grassroot promotion of the sport.

The inter-school competitions in the UAE covering the various age groups for boys and girls are fiercely fought and the rivalries revolve around four schools in Dubai and Sharjah, and the New Indian Model School (NIMS) group institutions in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. NIMS-Sharjah is getting set for the new season with basic coaching sessions for boys and the Khaleej Times caught up with Vijayakumar on the institution’s preparations for the season.

NIMS cagers participated in 14 tournaments in the various age groups to land six gold medals, five runners-up spots and one bronze standing during the academic year 2013-2014. “Once in the 12^th grade, academics is the only important factor for almost all the parents in our curriculum, understandably so as their wards have to go home to a highly competitive field or find admissions elsewhere for proper campus education,” said Vijayakumar, head of the PE Department at NIMS-Sharjah.

The former Kerala varsities and state player added: “The lead players are generally in a ‘non-available’ category which adds more workload on the better players who are in their 10^th and 11^th grades. They also have exams determining their streams and areas of concentration academically. The ideal thing would be to have well drilled 9^th graders while the entry level 8^th grade for the seniors category is a bit too early for first-five starts.”

Vijayakumar continued: “Last year’s leading players were mostly from the 12^th grade including Abhil Dev Arun who was instrumental for many of NIMS’ victories during the past four years. “Abhil’s knee injury jeopardised NIMS chances in the finals of the DPS Tournament; the Skyline Trophy and the CBSE cluster/main tournaments.”

“The budding under 15 players will be giving a helping hand to their experienced captain Mohammed Umair Khan for the 2014-15 season,” he said.

“It was NIMS Sharjah which introduced a full fledged schools basketball tournament among the Asian schools here way back in 1989 and we will be celebrating the Silver Jubilee NIMS Trophy Basketball Tournament this year,” Vijayakumar said. “We will be inviting all the teams who took part in the NIMS Trophy Tournaments during the past 25 years.”

The concept of mini basketball for Under 13 boys was first introduced by NIMS-Sharjah in 1997 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Indian Independence. “NIMS-Sharjah will be organising the 17^th edition of NIMS Mini Basketball Tournament during the last week of January 2015,” he added.

Regular coaching in soccer, volleyball, cricket and athletics are also provided to the students of the institution. “The NIMS U15 soccer team won the NIMS Group Football Tournament and were the runners up of the Indian High Sports Festival last season; in addition to the silver attained at the NIMS Al Ain indoor soccer tournament,” he said.

moni@khaleejtimes.com