Deshi Ballers host Unity Cup 2022
On November 25, Deshi Ballers hosted the 2nd season of their flagship tournament for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the theme released by the United Nations – #UNiTE! The theme celebrated a gender equal world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. The event was sponsored by Save & Serve Foundation.
The tournament was hosted inside the Bangladesh National Parliament under the support of Member of Parliament Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Chairman of Standing Committee on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, and Member of Parliament Nahim Razzaq, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This was also a fundraising event. All tournament proceeds will go towards the first ever children's book on basketball which Deshi Ballers are launching in January 2023.
Pass it to Rizwana, written by Crystal Pottebaum, is a special storybook about three girls fighting to play basketball. Born in Iowa, the author moved to Dhaka to teach at an international school. During the school lockdown, she started coaching and playing with the Deshi Ballers. She became aware of the challenges female athletes face in pursuing their passion for sports.
Inspired by their dedication, Crystal wrote the book based on the stories she heard from her teammates and the girls she played with. She hopes this book will help make sports more accessible and acceptable for girls.
Available in both Bengali and English, this book will inspire children, especially girls to stop hesitating and live their passion for sports and help make sports more gender neutral in Bangladesh. The book is being sponsored by UNICEF and published by HerStory Foundation.
The chief guest at the event was Turkish ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan. He participated in the tournament in team Court Queens and inaugurated the event. Save & Serve Foundation Chairman Syed Tayabul Bashar was the special guest at the closing ceremony. A total of 20 teams and around 100 athletes participated in the tournament. The champion of the Women's 3x3 was Trouble Makers, while Cheesecake became the runners up.
The champion of the Men's 3x3 was team Goon Squad while team Rain was the runners up. The champion of Coed 3x3 was team Ishtagram while team Court Queens was the runners up.
Another special attraction of the tournament was a free throw contest where the player who made the maximum number of free throws out of 3 chances would win.
Ashreen Mridha, co-founder of Deshi Ballers said, "Today's event is historic for us. After fighting many battles, we have successfully organised a women's basketball tournament. Although we never got support from the federation, it is comforting to know that the national parliament is supporting us. When Members of Parliament are by our side, it goes to show we are doing something great for society. Members of Parliament also believe that gender equality and women's empowerment can be achieved through sports. With the support from the Honourable Prime Minister, we want to take women's basketball to newer heights. As a first step, we are requesting BKSP to introduce basketball for girls. Our future goal is to start the first national basketball league for women in the country."