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The Iraqi Basketball Assn. is trying to train the national
team, but it faces a lack of funds and an increasingly conservative culture.
By Kimi
Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 19, 2008
SULAYMANIYA,
IRAQ -- The tallest player on the women's national basketball squad is 5
feet 7 inches. She and her teammates cannot practice in the nation's capital
because of poor security. And in northern Kurdistan, where they are now
based, they practice outdoors, often in frigid temperatures.
Nonetheless, what they lack in height they make up for in enthusiasm, said
Deb Packwood, an American consultant hired to develop the fledgling team,
which aims to raise its international profile and someday compete in the
Olympics.
Packwood, who
played some college basketball at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas,
is working on behalf of the Iraqi Basketball Assn. and the National Olympic
Committee, which are seeking to revive a sport that has been crippled by
war, inadequate financial backing and the growing challenges women face in a
nation that is increasingly religiously conservative.
"The people, they don't like the girls to play," said team member Rajwa
Abdul Ahad, 28. "They say, 'No . . . it's bad for you.' But I don't care
because basketball, it is in my blood."
Since the blond, American athletic consultant from Global Sports Partners
began making the rounds in Kurdistan this year, Kurdish television crews and
local newspaper reporters have sought interviews and flocked to tournaments.
At one school alone, 85 girls expressed interest in playing, although
Packwood winnowed them down.
"I think we are the best place for women's sports in all of Iraq," said
Rizgar Mohammed Raouf, a physical education professor at Sulaymaniya
University and representative of the local basketball federation. "Our
community believes in freedom more than being covered."
But building the team hasn't been easy, particularly when the participants
lack basic skills and the coaches themselves have no formal training.
Getting funding in the soccer-crazed, male-dominated country is also
difficult, said Sameera Abdulla, head of the women's sports office for the
Kurdistan Olympic Committee.
But Abdulla said the head of the National Olympic Committee promised: "If I
helped you before with one hand, I will help you now with two hands. Let me
assure you, there is a chance for women."
As in many other sports, the team is often overshadowed by the men's
basketball team.
With Abdulla's assurance, Packwood and the women have moved full-tilt. This
week the team traveled to Syria to compete in the West Asia Women's
Basketball Championship, an event that has received almost no media
coverage. They were knocked out by Iran.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the ragtag national team has
competed a couple of times in other Middle Eastern countries. The Iraqis
were beat soundly by women who towered over them, sometimes losing by as
many as 50 points.
"We cannot beat any team," Abdulla said, "but I think we will get better."
There's just one other nagging issue, Packwood recently joked: "They really
are lacking tall players here."
Dunya Najat, 26, of Sulaymaniya did not begin playing until she went to
college -- in part because her parents would not allow it. Now she is
married to the basketball coach and plays on the national team. Her hope,
she said, is that Iraq will become safer and that the team will be able to
travel again to Lebanon and Jordan. And from there, who knows?
"I want to be famous," she said. "I want to go to America to see how they
play. I hope to see Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal."
Although the national team has several players in their 20s, coaches have
their eye on young talent, girls who have expressed passion in the sport and
persuaded their parents to let them play. This month, about 40 girls 12 to
14 years old have started practicing with eight new coaches.
Kausar Mahdi, 17, said she has loved basketball since seventh grade, but had
been rebuffed by her father. "He said: 'Care about your lessons. Care to go
to a good college.' But after three years, I asked my father again and he
said, 'OK.' "
She watched games at school and her father helped her put up a hoop at home.
"I'm not really good," she said. "I have to practice more."
Farther north in Irbil, 14-year-old Romrama Shamael Nano dribbles and shoots
in a brand-new gymnasium, where she joins other aspiring female basketball
players. Their gym is the nicest in northern Iraq, but they can practice and
compete only when their coach isn't busy with his three other teams.
"I want to be a very good player," Romrama said. With the completion of the
new gymnasium, the players hope more tournaments will be scheduled so they
can do more than just practice.
"Now we have an opportunity," said Abdulla, of the Olympic Committee.
"Kurdistan is free. It is different from the south and the middle. We want
to make the Iraqi people be together, especially in sports."
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