Basketball league begins for Jakarta students

Basketball league begins for Jakarta students

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Elementary school and junior high school students in Jakarta
will compete in the Wall's Junior Basketball League starting on
Friday.

Games for the league, which will run until Dec. 5, will be
staged in Central Jakarta, North Jakarta, South Jakarta, East
Jakarta and West Jakarta. Teams from 51 elementary and junior
high schools will take part in the league.

Both boys and girls' teams will take part in the junior high
school competition, while the elementary school competition will
feature only boys' teams.

Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) chief of
development Bella Harahap hailed the formations of the league,
saying it was a welcome development given the lack of basketball
competitions for young players.

"Most of the basketball competitions held in this country are
for high school and university students. Therefore, we have
decided to hold this junior competition with a view toward
tapping young talents," Bella said here on Monday.

The opening round of the league will be a round-robin event,
with the top teams qualifying for the finals from Nov. 30 to Dec.
5. A total of Rp 72 million (US$8,000) in cash prizes will be up
for grabs.

Event director Sriwijaya said the number of participating
schools could have been greater, but the organizers decided to
admit only those schools recommended by the basketball
association.

"Our invitations were based on recommendations from Perbasi,
the Jakarta Education Agency and the Jakarta Sports Agency. These
recommendations were based on each school's performance in
basketball competitions in their areas," Sriwijaya said.

"We had to limit the number of participants in the event due
to the tight schedule for basketball competitions in the
country," he said.

The league winners will represent Jakarta at the 2005 National
Student Basketball Competition in January.