“Play `Til 80 yo” Amateur Women’s Basketball Spring League

ADRIANA “Play `Til 80 yo” Inaugural Amateur Women’s Basketball Spring League ended on May 20, 2017 in Shanghai. This is the first of its kind in the country. Its success is a great inspiration to all amateur female basketball players.

How to solve the challenge of not having enough teams to sign up for the league

As we all know, other than the requirement to have at least 5 players to play the game of basketball, one needs to have experience with the fundamental basketball skills and knowing the rules of the game to play. In addition to these two requirements, the needs of a court, referees, table officials, organizers and so on, are all various components needed in a formal basketball game. These factors are obstacles for amateur women’s basketball players which needs to be overcome in order for it to happen. While the growth and development of women’s basketball has been rapid the past few years, things have not changed much. Constraints such as limited funds, resources, support, and social expectations for women are just a few of the many factors that led to the current scenario.

One of the key component which defines whether a league is successful comes to the very base of the league itself, which is, the teams playing in the league. Thus the first challenge for Adriana was to organize and gather enough teams for the league.

Adriana’s founder has dedicated years to understand, learn, discover, connect, improve, and organize such a platform. With time this “invisible” amateur women’s basketball network was created. This league attracted amateur women’s basketball players from all around the world who are living, studying, and/or working in Shanghai.

Upon overcoming the first basic obstacles of not having enough teams for the league, the next step is to think about the strategy, planning, and execution of the league.

Purpose of League：

To create a platform for amateur women basketball players for play, starting in Shanghai, with the vision to expand the network around the country.

Number of teams in the League：

11 teams / 2 divsions / 160 players

Special Components of the League Rules and Regulations：

1 1 RMB registration fee

The registration fee for the inaugural spring league is only set at RMB1 to encourage interested participants to join the league.

2 RMB300 deposit/player

This requirement is to ensure the smooth operation and running of the games in the league. With several challenges and obstacles amateur women’s basketball players have to face, Adriana has set this rule to guarantee attendance of the teams at every game. We hope to create a playing culture and environment where all participating teams do their best to avoid absences. The other team and her players who have made the effort to come to the game have organized their time to be attending the game, we hope to create this playing culture where respect for the opponents is given, as well as respect for your own team is given. The organizing committee has created this rule also to develop the habit for participating teams and their players to organizer their time for this commitment. This is very important for everyone involved and for the development of this league and any other playing platform the participating teams plan to be involved in.

3 Minimum of 10 players up to maximum 25 players can be registered in the team; minimum 7 players must attend each game.

Considering the length of the league, as the majority of the participants are working professionals, entrepreneurs, freelancers, students, and/or mothers; there is a higher possibility for the players to miss some games during the league period due to work, family, study or other personal commitments. Thus this rule has been set to ensure the normal running of the games in the league. In addition, in consideration to the fact that most of the participants are not always actively doing sports or exercising frequently due to other life commitments, especially those who have not played for a while; the league has required at least 2 substitute players available to step in at each game to ensure the smooth running of the game.

4 The 24 seconds rule was excluded during the round robin games, and implemented after.

As the majority of the participant did not have the opportunity to play basketball since young, mostly starting in university or after entering the society; we would like to provide the opportunity for participating teams to get used to the full court formal basketball rules during the round robin games.

5 Different divisions of play

The level of participants varies greatly. In order to provide a fair and fun playing platform for all players at different levels of play, teams are divided to two divisions in the league. This is to encourage teams to improve at their own pace and grow with the teams who are around the same playing level with similar past playing experiences. The quality of the games is also better for all involved when teams are grouped in the division of similar level. This encourages all participating teams to focus on developing their players’ confidence and other areas of the game, such as individual and team skills.

6Individual player registration option

Due to the current stage of development for amateur women’s basketball still at its infancy stage, the number of amateur women’s basketball players is still limited when compared to amateur men’s or boys’ basketball players. By assisting individual amateur women’s basketball players to gather together and form teams is one of the many ways to increase participation. This helps to ensure the league will continue to grow and develop, while at the same time, provide individual players to find a suitable team to join. Although forming a team is a huge responsibility and a challenging task, these participants who do eventually successfully came together to form a team had the opportunity to understand the various components (eg. management team including a team manager, captain, coach, etc) needed to create a team and manage one. They learn to understand the importance of having team trainings, team work, etc; which are crucial factors to the continual development and growth of these teams.

Establishing various communication platforms in order to make sure relevant league information is conveyed to the participating teams in time.

As it is the first of its kind, most of the participating teams have never participated in such a league before. This brought out several situations which the teams need to learn to handle and overcome. Situations such as teams having difficulties in organizing their players to commit to the training sessions or the games, lack of disciplinary guidance for the players abide by, a mixture of various playing levels within the team, having different motivations for being in the team, having different goals for participating in the league, etc. As the organizer, the league committee had to spend time staying in touch with every team to be well informed of the situation of the teams every week to ensure the smooth operation and running of the league games, assisting them to overcome obstacles and challenges; while at the same time, provide some room for the team management to grow its team and guide their players.

One of the methods used for creating such a habit or culture for a healthy and sustainable playing environment is organizing a team manager meeting prior to the league. The league committee reminded all participating teams of the rules and regulations of the league, as well as provide an opportunity for all teams to get to know one another before the league starts. Connecting teams before the league starts was an important move as building the trust and friendship among leaders of the teams will help the league grow. One other method was creating WeChat groups to provide a way to update the teams of any latest news of the league. The league committee also stayed connected with all the teams during game days to ensure teams show up on time for the games. If there is any special situation, the committee would have time to make the relevant adjustments or changes.

Game venues, referees, and table officials

With enough teams participating, finding qualified officials and game venues is not a major problem in Shanghai.

Awards and prizes

The top three teams of each division received medals (with the Adriana logo and league theme engraved), and also received Adriana souvenirs. This is another way to promote the Adriana brand.

Summary：

There are still several areas Adriana needs to improve and work on for the league next season. However, the successful organization of the inaugural amateur women’s basketball spring league gave us the confidence to make the next one better. We believe that the successful organization of this league is not a coincidence; it is a sign showing that such a playing platform is needed and wanted. This is one of the starting points for amateur women’s basketball to be part of the development in the sector, which is going to be fundamental in the growth of amateur women and girls’ basketball training and education industry.