GM Sampath Kumar, chairman of technical committee of Basketball Federation of India, at the Tisco guesthouse. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Oct. 27: In a bid to spot talents at the school level and nurture them, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is mulling an all-India tournament comprising ICSE and CBSE schools.

BFI technical committee’s chairman G.M. Sampath Kumar, who is in the steel city for the Federation Cup basketball championship beginning tomorrow at JRD Tata Sports Complex, said Bangalore has taken the initiative to organise such a tourney. He expects more states, including Jharkhand, to organise such events.

“We would also talk to the officials here about it and see if they can also conduct the game here,” said Kumar.

“The BFI is presently focussing on school-level cagers. With a few international standard cagers in India, the focus should be on schools. Earlier, there was hardly any school team. Now, there are aplenty with tall cagers. The BFI plans to tap young talents from the schools and send them to coaching camps to groom them for the sub-junior or junior-level tournaments,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

Appreciating the increase in the interest of the children and their parents in the game, Kumar said it is a positive sign. “Our parents hardly encouraged us. But now parents watch their children playing. One has to reap maximum benefits from this increased interest and the BFI plans to do that as well,” said Kumar.

The BFI has introduced several changes in the rules and regulations of playing basketball at the school-level to popularise the game. The height of the school-levelboard has been enhanced to 3.05m from the earlier 2.60m.

“Now, every player has to play at least a quarter of the game. This gives everyone a chance to showcase skills,” said Kumar, who expressed concern over the technical aspect of the game, especially in states like Jharkhand.

“Not a single international referee has come up from this part of the country and Jharkhand has just six national-level referees. The BFI conducts regular clinics and examinations in this regard but one can become a good referee only if he/she has interest in it,” said Kumar, adding one has to be physically fit and know the rules to become an international-level referee.