We are sure that all of you know about the NBA, the Gassol brothers and even that your English teacher used to play with Michael Jordan at college. But did you know that the best women’s basketball team in the world is in Catalonia during the week of March the 4th ? If you are interested, continue reading and get your family and friends to go to Girona on Sunday March the 10th. It is the best you can do this week to show your respect and support for women !
What is Shatila ?
Shatila is the name of a refugee camp which was set up in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon in 1949 to host around 3,000 Palestinians. They were forced to flee from their homeland after the brutal raids of the Israeli Army in Northern Palestine. Then the Lebanon and Syria’s Civil Wars trapped more Palestinian residents in the area, and as a result they were imprisoned in the Shatila Refugee Camp hardly 5 kilometers away from the luxurious skyscrapers of Central Beirut. Nowadays, in an area smaller than one square kilometer, and after surviving the 1982 Shatila massacre led by the Lebanese paramilitary forces, there are 20,000 people mainly from Northern Palestine and also Syria living among muddy waters, electrical wiring and partially destroyed storey buildings crammed with families that cannot leave the camp borders and who only have each other’s support under the long-lasting indifference of the international governments and organizations.
We all can imagine how difficult life must be for everybody in Shatila, but especially for young women and girls who are not supposed to go out of the falling buildings where they live. Men and boys walk in the streets of Shatila and they even play games to make their lives a bit more comfortable. But what about women and girls ? What can they do to escape from their gloomy lives ?
Who is coach Majdi ?
In 2012, Majdi Majzoub, father of his 12 year old daughter, took her out to the street and both began playing basketball around a hoop they came across in a kind of court full of debris where boys were also playing football. The next day, other girls from the nearby building also went out to join Majdi and his daughter. In less than a week the court was cleared up by neighbours, so that boys could play football and girls basketball in better conditions. Many families were reluctant to let their girls go out to the street and spend the afternoon playing basketball. However, Majdi’s attendance in the street while boys were playing football and girls basketball gave them a sense of easiness that had never experienced before. Boys, as usual, had fun playing their favourite sport, and girls had got out of their small storeys for the first time to meet the world outside. And guess what, they also had fun with the game ! The hell of Shatila was left behind for a couple of hours while they were out in the street playing basketball. A sport they did not even know some weeks ago, had become their favourite game, because basketball allowed them to go out, run, giggle, help and above all meet each other.
What is Basketball Beat Borders ?
Many NGOs set up in Beirut are involved in helping the refugees in Shatila with their most bare necessities, such as food, drinking water, medical assistance and clothing. One worker of an Italian NGO and frequent visitor of the camp named David Ruggini realized that every sunny afternoon in a quite neat, small square inside Shatila, a group of girls enjoyed themselves playing basketball under the careful supervision of a middle-aged man. In a winter afternoon in 2017, after more than five years playing basketball, Majdi and David met and began talking about sport as a gateway to strengthen any community, and therefore a way to make better decisions in life. David Ruggini did not have any doubts and founded a new NGO called Baskeball Beats Borders in order to help all the girls in Shatila to improve their lives. Around the initial hoop which was the girls’ basketball court and in the destroyed buildings around, a volunteer community centre appeared, where girls could also get some classes at English, drawing and mathematics, and organize Ramadan celebrations with gifts and food, while still playing and enjoying basketball. Majdi got then the involvement of volunteers from the outside of the camp, as well as from many families living in Shatila.
What is the Palestine Youth Basketball Club ?
The Palestine Youth Basketball Club, as they liked to be called, is basically composed of Palestinian girls ranging from 12 to 30 years old, although other nationalities are also welcome. This is the reason why they cannot participate in any Lebanese competition. Fortunately and thanks to the now well-established NGO Basketball Beat Borders, the team was able to get its first match in 2018 in Ireland and shortly after in 2019 in Rome and the Basque Country. In 2022, It was Estudiantes, a historical basketball team in Madrid, well-known for its values and beliefs firmly rooted on the development of its players according to the principles of equality and respect, rather than competition, which first paid attention to the Palestine Youth Basketball Club, and arranged all the legal paperwork to host the team from Shatila for one week with their own players in Madrid. The Palestine Youth Basketball Club did not appear in the front pages of any newspapers, or in the prime time of any TV channels, but all their members knew that this was the only way to break borders, not only athletically but also culturally, and eventually empower themselves.
The Palestine Youth Basketball Club in Catalonia with Txell Feixes:
Today in March 2024, after 2 years of their stay with Estudiantes, the Palestine Youth Basketball Club, has finally made its way to Catalonia with the support of Txell Feixes and the guidance of also three socially involved basketball clubs, such as Joventut de Badalona, Lluïsos de Gràcia Club de Bàsquet and UniGirona. On Friday March the 1st, the Palestine Youth Basketball Club could play in the same court where the real dream team won the olympic gold medal back in 1992. This week, on Sunday March the 10th, they willl be playing again in the court of UniGirona, far away from their initial hoop, but claiming again for the same rights: «Yes we can, Palestinian women can rule the world» . Do you have anything more interesting to do than joining the Palestine Youth Basketball Club on Sunday March the 10th to celebrate Women’s Day in Girona ? Get all your family and friends to go to Girona this coming Sunday, and celebrate women’s empowerment with the Palestine Youth Basketball Club.
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