Novicio It was a historic day. As we rolled the red carpet back home to kick off the FIBA World Cup, the General Assembly at the UN headquarters here in New York adopted by consensus the commemoration of World Basketball Day. The Philippine-sponsored resolution casts an imprint on Dec. 21 as a worldwide celebration to one of the most popular team sports that was founded 132 years ago by Dr. James Naismith.
Sitting among the team of the Philippine Mission to the UN as His Excellency Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo delivered his speech with honor and conviction, I pondered on how the declaration profoundly resonates with us Filipinos, the 76 other co-sponsoring countries and the whole UN General Assembly.
New York University Professor David Hollander, author of the book “How Basketball Can Save the World” and who teaches the extraordinary course, believes, yes! Basketball can actually save the world. It is said the peculiar professor’s course is a sensational one at NYU. As summer started to set in, the hubby met with Professor Hollander over coffee where they discussed the idea of a World Basketball Day resolution. The plan was expounded and tabled for discussion with the Philippine Mission to the UN team, which home office enthusiastically supported. Over two months of drafting, meetings and negotiations did not easily translate into a slam dunk. As in any healthy deliberation, dissents were inevitable, with 193 countries judiciously reviewing the language, relevance and impact of the draft. After a series of consultations and in the spirit of cooperation, the Philippines with three other main co-sponsors – Indonesia, Peru and Nicaragua – in the end scored a victory and the rest, they say, is history.
Seated at the back of the hall where the assembly was held, I felt like a cheerleader, except that I had to keep the rah rah to myself. Before the approval of the draft resolution, I listened to Ambassador Lagdameo’s impassioned speech on how “basketball transcends borders, cultures and languages,” and how the sport “creates connections and breaks barriers,” thereby “contributing to peace.” I was amazed when Ambassador Lagdameo mentioned the names of NBA greats from Jordan to Magic to Curry and how the NBA represents a milieu for international cooperation with the inclusion of equally illustrious names, from Yao Ming of China to Luka of Slovenia to the Nigerian-Greek Giannis. I wish someday a Filipino compatriot would literally stand tall and be eventually included in the roster of inspiring and eminent NBA players.
Side glancing at Professor Hollander who beamed and nodded like a fan as the resolution he helped inspire had just been approved, I realized how diplomacy comes in many forms, with sports as a solid bridge toward peace building. Skimming through his book (I have yet to finish reading it) and gleaning from his unadulterated passion for the sport, I come to appreciate why it is one. The book offers “13 guiding principles for reimagining what’s possible,” on how basketball can actually save the world. In our country where basketball is sometimes played in dusty, improvised backyard courts by barefoot or slippers-clad players or by professional cagers in state-of-the art arenas geared in their most fashionable pairs of shoes, three of the 13 philosophies – “no barrier to access; for the outsider, the other and the masses; urban and rural” –sound very applicable.
Coming home to Manila from our posting in Beijing more than 10 years ago, our then teenage son and a new face in the neighborhood was invited by a group of boys to play basketball in a nearby court. While he was very happy to have played with boys his age, he came home sad, telling us about his playmates, who played barefoot or were in flip flops. Feeling sorry for his teammates, he asked his father to please buy his newfound friends a pair of rubber shoes each, to which the Dad acceded. As parents, we thought of it as a defining moment in our son’s life, one that ignited his sense of compassion. It is still perhaps the same sense of empathy that remains ingrained in him now that he is as a professional streamer and e-sports enthusiast. One time he initiated a charity stream to raise funds for an NGO his younger sister is affiliated with. A few months ago, his supporters and followers once again backed his charity stream where they raised close to $1,500 for care.org, a global organization whose aim is to fight hunger and poverty. Looking back, I thought of how an enjoyable summer of basketball games in a neighborhood court helped shape a young boy’s consciousness on the unifying power of sports.
Also in his speech, Ambassador Lagdameo mentioned that the Philippines has “more basketball courts per capita than anywhere in the world.” While this is true, there is also the uncomfortable reality that most of our basketball courts, especially those in barrios and barangays, are glaringly marked with names of officials and politicians on whose auspices the gyms were built. Perhaps it is about time lawmakers and officials transcend beyond the superficial symbolism of the sport by simply building basketball courts without bannering their names. Now is the time to re-evaluate what can be meaningfully done to support basketball, such as developing potential players, protégés or establishing genuine programs that could inspire the next generation on how our country’s most favorite sport can help save the world.
In his email to the hubby and the rest of the team who made the resolution a reality, Professor Hollander said that “the Philippines led the world in establishing one special, accessible, inclusive and powerful way to unify humanity’s journey.” That journey does not take place every Dec. 21 only but every time we recognize, whether as a spectator or a player, how basketball can help make our world a better place.