Summertime

The summer’s caught hold in Beirut, and the kids have seemingly hit the beach, a favorite weekend pastime for the Lebanese (and pretty much everyone else stuck in sweltering heat next to a body of water). Only two of the older guys showed up, and one of them was an hour late. There were also only three younger boys who came.

Mac, Coach Rabiah, and one older guy played a quick game with some of the other guys at the Qas Qas court. Afterwards, Coach Rabiah sat on a bench on the sidelines, talking and watching his lone player in a game with some guys on the court not with GAM3. He was itching to get to the beach himself, confessing he hoped his wife and kids didn’t leave without him.

Coaches Rita, Rafi and Talar worked with the mix of mainly younger girls, a few of the older ones and the two young boys. About half the time they were playing keep away, and a sort of race. One of the kids would sit mid-court and hold the ball on their head. There were two lines of kids under each basket and one each would run to the middle to try getting the ball first. A hat was the essential accessory for the kid in the middle and two girls took turns passing a pink one between them.

Coach Rafi was a bit put off they weren’t actually working on anything, but the group managed to get some practice in. Coach Rafi worked on chest and bounce passes and a bit on shooting. The kids loved the shooting. They stood in two lines under the net at one end of the court, taking turns dribbling down court and staying at the other end until they made a shot.
The kids waiting hooted, hollered and cheered their peers on, tensing with anticipation as the ball soared through the are and alternatively jumping and clapping at a score or looking on with a bit of disappointment as their turn took that much longer to come. One little boy was so excited after making a shot he forgot to bring the ball back to pass to the kids waiting, spinning on his heels half-court when he realized his mistake.

With two weeks left to go and the days getting hotter and hotter, it’s to be seen how many make it to the end. There have been some kids who’ve come every single week, and they don’t seem likely to stop. Mac’s planning a feast of grilled meat and chicken for the last practice and trying to get some of the Riyadi players to come, so maybe there will be a crowd. However, Coach Rabiah offered the advice Mac was mulling over a few weeks ago, next year it would be better to end the practices before summer kicks in.

First time for everything

This Sunday it was the coaches who didn’t make it. Though, unfortunately, the number of kids was still only around 30. But three of the older guys got their first taste of coaching. Rafi, who normally coaches the boys under 14, had to stay home to study for an exam this week. So Nabil, Abed and Issam, again the only three older guys to show, took over. They were coachless because Big Mohammed was sick and Little Mohammed wasn’t answering his mobile.

The temporary coaches had a great time.

“I like to be ferocious. Torture them,” Abed told me. He’s a bit shy and soft-spoken, so I couldn’t really tell if he was joking. Seeing the boys run the court in the heat, I almost assumed he probably wasn’t. Most of the kids were a little less than fast running laps around the court behind Issam, but they managed to move like lightning over to the water bottles when they got breaks for a gulp.

Stretching was also a bit less than successful with the kids. Nabil and Issam walked from one kid to the next and back again straightening their legs as they reached for their toes. The back and forth and back again played out a second time while the kids laid on their backs and raised their legs in the air. As soon as either Nabil or Issam turned their back after taking a kid by the ankles and giving a gentle tug to get their knees to lock, the kids would bend their legs again.

I headed over to see how the girls were doing. They were also short a coach. Rita, who works with the girls over 14, was also home studying. Talar, the younger girls’ coach, had her hands full with the 16 girls. They played two small, short games and then broke for a little shooting practice.

The girls lined up on either side of the court at the half-court line and drove the ball to the net. They’re getting better, but a lot of the shots didn’t quite make it.

Talar then had them line up for some passing practice. The girls stood in two lines facing each other working on chest passes. Though they were about 2 meters apart, there were still a number of missed passes. But they were having a good time.

The boys, meanwhile, were getting ready for a five-on-five game after a few running and shooting drills. The full-court game got a little chaotic with all the kids running around and a small fight broke out. I didn’t see it, but Issam told me one boy was opening and telling the boy with the ball to pass to him. When the pass didn’t come, the fight broke out. The temporary coaches stepped in to break it up and no one was hurt.

When 10:30 hit, the kids spilt and Nabil, Issam and Abed took the court.

All quiet on the eastern front

The sun was beating down and the expansive complex of football and basketball courts was nearly empty except for those playing. Normally there are people filling the spaces in between courts, kicking stray balls around or practicing their dribbling, waiting for a court to open up or just hanging around. Not the case this Sunday.

Again, GAM3 saw a drop in attendance. For the third week in a row militants battled the Lebanese army in the north, and final exam season was in full swing at the local elementary and secondary schools. The heat, fear of an escalation in violence and testing kept over half the regulars at home this week. Big Mohammed called three of the teenage guys who usually come. Only one answered. Luckily, he came.

Unfortunately, only three of 10 the teenage guys showed up, so Big Mohammed didn’t run any drills. We stood on the sidelines while he let them play a game of three-on-three with some other guys who were at the court. They were drenched in sweat by 10:30, but had a good time.

“It’s really disgusting,” Big Mohammed said of the situation keeping people away. “We started with 50 people who where coming for two months. We were having a really good time here.”

The number of younger boys was also on the low end.

“Some of our boys here are from Burj al Barajneh. Because of the situation in the camp their parents might be afraid to let them leave,” he said. “It’s a really bad situation and their parents might be afraid.”

Like everyone, he hopes things will end quickly and peacefully.

There were enough of the youngest girls to arrange a small, half-court game. They were fun to watch because they could barely toss the ball high enough to get close to the net. It’s funny to see little kids putting all their weight and muscle into something you think of as simple.

The older girls got a few dribbling drills. They’re looking good. The girls had great control, and the drill didn’t turn into the frenzy of stray balls bouncing around they way drills did earlier in the season. They practiced dribbling from behind the net as they ran to the free-throw line and then switched to two bounces with the left hand and a pass for two bounces with the right. But, you can tell they’re not 100% comfortable. Their movements are still a bit stiff and awkward.

When the coaches blew the whistle at the end of the hour and a half, the courts quickly cleared and Qas Qas was even emptier.

Mac talked with Mohammed about sending SMS messages to all the older guys with mobiles. Not just the regulars, everyone on the list, he said.

“Next year, I think we’ll start a little earlier,” he told me, to avoid the final exams and the heat. He said starting earlier in March might help, but it’s the end of winter, a very rainy time in Beirut. The courts, with less than perfectly flat surfaces, are really best when they’re dry.

“The key is to get in between the rain and the heat,” Mac said.

Half the kids, Interview with Abed Al-Rahamam

When I arrived to the Qas Qas courts a little before nine o'clock it was already quite apparent that we were gonna' be missing some GAM3 participants due to the ongoing political situation here in Lebanon. In fact, by mid-practice it looked as if the attendance had been halved. We had taken a hit across the board and were lacking in all age groups, both male and female, not exactly a welcome sight.

None-the-less, we got things going by shooing away the group of football players who occasionally mistake the basketball court for a soccer field and got the drills under way. Since Rabiah hadn't yet arrived, Big Mohammed began by having the older boys dribble along the out-of-bounds line around the perimeter of the full court. Soon afterwards, Mac got the call that Coach Rabiah had been in a car accident. He was unharmed, but wouldn't be making it to the practice. I guess if there were a day to be shorthanded, Sunday was it.

I moved to the girls court and watched as they played a version of the game Keep Away. They stood in a circle lobbing chest passes while a girl in the middle bounced from side to side in an attempt to snag any misplaced ball. There were two girls who hadn't been with us for all that long, no more than two weeks, and though they were a little out of step the more experienced ones were helpful, showing them the correct way to hold their body and hands while lunging into the air or digging low for the bounce pass. That's team work!

Speaking to two young ladies last Sunday, I decided to talk to one of the boys this week and see what he had to say. His name is Abed Al-Rahamam, age 12 and hails from the Shateela Palestinian Refugee Camp. He says his favorite basketball team is Riyadi and that his favorite music is "Rap Music." He's stout young guy who rarely misses a practice, and what he lacks in speed he makes up for in effort and a keen ability to pick things up quickly.

Miguella Guerilla: How do you feel physically since playing basketball with GAM3? Healthier?

Abed Al-Rahamam: I feel normal, not necessarily healthier.

MG: How about you boys, do you generally get along?

Abed Al-Rahamam: We are good. If we fight it's only for the ball.

MG: If you could be anything when you grow up, what would you do?

AA: I'd play in the NBA. My brother went for a tryout, but didn't make it.

MG: I didn't know you could just try out. Good for him. When you're older, let's pretend you got a job that asked that you move from Lebanon, would you do it?

AA: Only if it was for the NBA, but my brother is in Sweden and I would go where ever he tells me to go.

MG: If you had one wish for Lebanon what would you wish for?

AA: For peace.

MG: What if you had one wish, but only could use it for yourself, what would you do?

AA: I'd use it see my brother in Sweden. He's 21.

Abed is in the middle of the frame about to receive a pass.