Through the hoop

Through the hoop

The Jayanagar Sports Club is often called the nursery for hoopsters in the State. It recently organised a State-level tournament to promote the sport

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.

Making it A number of players from JSC have played at the State and national levels

Talk about Jayanagar Sports Club (JSC) and a legion of basketballers comes to mind. None is greater than the legendary late S.V. Appaiah, the man who took Indian basketball to dizzy heights in the 1950’s and early 60’s. Years have rolled on but JSC continue to give back to the game of basketball. It is not wrong to say JSC has been the cradle for basketball in the state.

JSC was formed in 1977 but revived with added gusto in 1984. It till date has the enigmatic K.L. Manjunath steering it. All of 84 years, “Manjunath sir”, as he is addressed by the young and old alike, is the first person on court be it a daily practice session or a tournament. However, declining health has now forced the octogenarian indoors.

Besides producing state and national level basketballers of repute over the last two decades, JSC has had a more telling contribution to the game — organising tournaments. The initiative began in the year 1992 with a men’s state-level tournament. More tourneys followed in 1997, 2005 and anther organised recently provided an impetus to the game.

The 1997 event showcased the talent pool available to the state selectors and the club showed its calibre on the organisational front. Eight years later the JSC youngsters revived the tournament, which again remained a “men’s only” affair. Ironing out the flaws noticed earlier, the club with a workforce of over a hundred made it an event to remember. Fast Break, a four-page daily tabloid featured comments, match-schedules, the previous day’s results and pictures.

With no reasons given for not conducting the event last year, the club’s think-tank of Manjunath, S.V. Jayanna (son of the late Appaiah), treasurer and coach Srinivasa Murthy decided to conduct the championship this time around, with a bunch of senior players. And for the first time a women’s event was introduced.

Though the number of volunteers involved was much less than the previous edition, the event was a success. Complimenting the efforts of the organisers were the teams in fray. Both the men’s final in the semi final league and the women’s encounter to determine the champions turned out to be edge-of-the-seat thrillers. New teams — men from Madras Engineering Group (MEG) and women from South Western Railway emerged winners, besting erstwhile champions Vijaya Bank and Indiranagar BasketBall Club (IBBC), respectively.

Organising a championship, even at the state level, is not easy. Stalwarts of the club, President Atul Gurjar, a nationally-ranked veteran tennis player, Vice-president and Director of Garden City Hospital P. Suresh chipped in. B.S. Sridhar another senior member, was actively involved in the game as an ‘A’ panel BFI referee.

The format of the tournament included two stages, thus giving the fringe teams more opportunities to cross swords with the fancied sides. It was well received and the prize money at every stage was a welcome for the players. The most heartening aspect was the crowds that came in good numbers on each of the five days, with nearly six thousand turning up for the final day’s action.

JSC’s efforts in getting the tournament on has been appreciated by players and fans alike. One can only hope that more clubs join hands to conduct such events and bring back the halcyon days of basketball in Karnataka.