Basketball Game

Deborah is a teacher at Chumbageni who plays on the women’s basketball team in Tanga and came to the US last fall to learn how to set up basketball programs in Tanzania as part of a State Department program here. Fortunately, I was able to meet her and a few of her fellow Tanzanians with the Waymouth’s when she was here, and was able to meet a few of them again this past Friday.

After school at 4pm I went to the local stadium to watch a basketball game. However, both of the teams were late, and the game had been rescheduled to later. Fortunately, there was a soccer game that was just starting in the complex, so I was able to watch half of a game that I actually understand before coming over to watch the local players running drills on the basketball court.

Interestingly, all of the basketballs that I saw on the court (I counted six) were from Deborah’s trip to the United Sates. Apparently basketballs are too expensive here, and are not in great supply. Another man who is involved with creating a basketball program in the local community was talking to me about the youth team he is currently working with. He had to buy all of the kids the proper shoes, but takes them home after every practice so they don’t inevitably walk away.

Overall, the complex was very neat and covered in blue paint with Vodacom logos everywhere. There’s a soccer field, a basketball court, and an area for netball (I sport that I do not yet know very much about). The place seemed to be alive with people on a Friday afternoon, and I was told will be running programs throughout most of the weekend.