CHENNAI: Former Indian basketball team coach Veselin Matic felt that bringing basketball closer to schools will transform the sport in the country. The Serbian believed that the schools already are equipped with facilities and coaches to train children.
“My idea is to bring a sport closer to school because schools are much better organised than sports clubs,” he said in a virtual interaction.
Matic — who was in the country as part of the International Sports School Organisation (ISSO’s) PE Educator upskill program in Delhi which concluded on Tuesday — also believed that the country does not have enough coaches for the players they produce and said they need to upskill. “The only coaches who work professionally are those in the Sports Authority of India (SAI). And then the rest are in state academies. There are few of them in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Maharashtra. Why can't we bring an initiative centered around schools?” he said.
Many great basketball players have been found as talents through the college system in the United States of America (USA). It has served the developmental pipeline for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Europe has a strong club system, where prominent outfits like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid establish youth academies.
While Matic vouched for schools to develop basketball players in the country, he believed that there is talent in colleges too. “I think about (the college system) it but it is important we begin with schools because that is where the facilities are. They are also capable of organising competitions. We need to start with metro cities. And then after that go all around the country. Colleges will have huge potential because they can give a scholarship," he said.
While he proposed all these ideas, Matic expressed dismay over the lack of a year-long competition in the country. “The players play an All-India tournament and it is over. That is not enough. We haven't had any league in a very long period,” he said. The Indian Basketball League (IBL), which was announced last year, is expected to begin around early 2027. Matic was part of the coaching staff which guided the erstwhile Yugoslavia to the 2002 FIBA world championship in the USA. He coached India from 2019 to 2024.