A tournament on the beach
It is common knowledge that beach volleyball is becoming popular in Ukraine. But to play basketball in a 30-degree-C heat among the sands, if only on an asphalt-covered spot (in a full outfit, wearing sneakers and a track suit), — it really beats me. However, the tournament organized for the seventh time by the Mariam firm in Kyiv's Hydropark, which held its finals last weekend, showed that basketball is still liked in this country. The Day' s correspondent asked Mariam president, a well-known basketball coach, Oleh Korban to say a few words about this wonderful spectacle which he in fact initiated.
«How did you manage to attract about fifty, if I may say so, ‘on-the- street' teams?»
«On the one hand, they are of course ‘on-the-street' teams, as you said: people of different ages, who love this game, just got together and filed an application after our announcement. But on the other hand, these teams include about six genuine masters of sport, such as, e.g., the Ukrainian champion Yury Kosenko, the experienced players Oleh Ruban, Andriy Korchynsky and others. So the level is far from that of dilettantes. And just fancy how many spectators were drawn by the final match which resembled a real-life ‘punch- up' of professional athletes. And even though my pupils lost on the aggregate of two matches to their rivals from Bulibuly, all derived great pleasure.»
«How come a basketball ground emerged here, among the sands? For they are being destroyed throughout the country, and you...»
«All is very simple: we leased the land, rolled up our sleeves, and built it. Is it bad? To start with, we covered it with asphalt, but now we intend to re- cover it with wood. We also want to renovate the grandstand — to make it more spacious.»
«Was this tournament born elsewhere?»
«Seven years ago in Kyiv's Palace of Sport during the first sponsored function titled ‘Two million into the basket,' where Mariam played against the Lithuanian Zalgiris.»
«I remember it was very spectacular when the winner was presented with a real two million on a platter. And what did the ‘beach basketball' players earn for their success?»
«Good things, too. The Hydropark champions were awarded musical centers, and those coming second and third got irons and telephones. But the point is not in this. In the course of the competition, which started back in June, our summer sport camp was visited by lots of people, both on and around the playground. So active recreation, in the broadest sense of the word, was up to the mark.»
«What about the next year?»
«I am sure we'll touch a new high...»
It is common knowledge that beach volleyball is becoming popular in Ukraine. But to play basketball in a 30-degree-C heat among the sands, if only on an asphalt-covered spot (in a full outfit, wearing sneakers and a track suit), — it really beats me. However, the tournament organized for the seventh time by the Mariam firm in Kyiv's Hydropark, which held its finals last weekend, showed that basketball is still liked in this country. The Day' s correspondent asked Mariam president, a well-known basketball coach, Oleh Korban to say a few words about this wonderful spectacle which he in fact initiated.
«How did you manage to attract about fifty, if I may say so, ‘on-the- street' teams?»
«On the one hand, they are of course ‘on-the-street' teams, as you said: people of different ages, who love this game, just got together and filed an application after our announcement. But on the other hand, these teams include about six genuine masters of sport, such as, e.g., the Ukrainian champion Yury Kosenko, the experienced players Oleh Ruban, Andriy Korchynsky and others. So the level is far from that of dilettantes. And just fancy how many spectators were drawn by the final match which resembled a real-life ‘punch- up' of professional athletes. And even though my pupils lost on the aggregate of two matches to their rivals from Bulibuly, all derived great pleasure.»
«How come a basketball ground emerged here, among the sands? For they are being destroyed throughout the country, and you...»
«All is very simple: we leased the land, rolled up our sleeves, and built it. Is it bad? To start with, we covered it with asphalt, but now we intend to re- cover it with wood. We also want to renovate the grandstand — to make it more spacious.»
«Was this tournament born elsewhere?»
«Seven years ago in Kyiv's Palace of Sport during the first sponsored function titled ‘Two million into the basket,' where Mariam played against the Lithuanian Zalgiris.»
«I remember it was very spectacular when the winner was presented with a real two million on a platter. And what did the ‘beach basketball' players earn for their success?»
«Good things, too. The Hydropark champions were awarded musical centers, and those coming second and third got irons and telephones. But the point is not in this. In the course of the competition, which started back in June, our summer sport camp was visited by lots of people, both on and around the playground. So active recreation, in the broadest sense of the word, was up to the mark.»
«What about the next year?»
«I am sure we'll touch a new high...»
Newspaper output №:
№31, (1999)Section
Society
