In a span of three days from 29th to 31st July, the basketball teams of AVM participated at the District Level Inter School Basketball Competition. Two teams from AVM: U-14 (under 14 years of age) and U-17 (under 17) were coached and prepared by our school basketball coach, Bankim Sir for this first inter school basketball competition of the year 2015-16. Vasishtha Genesis School of Bardoli hosted this competition for both, the U-14 and U-17 categories.
The U-17 teams from 14 different schools were invited on the 29th of July. Due to weather constraints and hence the lack of time, match duration was reduced to two halves of 7 minutes. Our U–17 team played a first round match with a very good team in Fountainhead School. In a very nervy first half, Fountainhead led the score with 5-1. However, our team regained composure and fought back to level the score 6-6 at the end of the second half. The tied score sent the match in extra time of only 2 minutes.
Under intense pressure neither teams could play a free flowing Basketball game. But in the last few seconds of the extra time our opponents scored a basket and won a very close match. However, the quality of our game and players did not go unnoticed as Nimitbhai Patel (class 10) got selected for the state level competition.
On 31st July, our junior team of U-14 went to the same venue in order to improve our showing and make our mark in this district level competition. Teams from 12 different schools came to participate in a view to learn from this experience. Our team started the campaign with a match against the P P Savani School team. We started very brightly and scored 6-0 in a shortened first half of five minutes. The opponents were clearly under pressure as we continued our domination in the second half to finish the match with a score line of 14-0.
The quarter final match was against the team from Euro School, Surat. Buoyed from our last performance, our players again started briskly and scored early points to finish the half with 5-0. We played in the ascendency throughout the second half as our team finished the match with an emphatic score line of 14-0 yet again.
Courtesy of that performance we got to face a very good team of Essar International, Surat in the semi-final. In a very tightly contested first half, we ended the first half with the slightest of the margin with a score of 2-0. But as expected our opponents came back strong at the start of the second half. As the half went on, the intensity increased and both teams played at a very good level but the team from Essar eventually won the match with the score of 6-4. Although bowing out at the semi-final stage is always tough on the players and the coach but we did make an impression at this basketball summit. Three of our players: Parambhai Dubey (class 8), Manavbhai Patel (class 8) and Jaybhai Patel (class 6) got selected for the state level competition!
On behalf of Atmiya Vidya Mandir, we congratulate all the participants as well as the boys who got selected for the state level competition. A special mention and gratitude to our school basketball coach Bankim Sir for preparing our teams in such a short time.
Tarun Sir
