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.