MUSCAT: The Oman Basketball Association (OBA) concluded the technical and skills assessment gathering for players of the Basketball Athletes Development Centres at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on Saturday.
The gathering, held at the indoor sub-hall, featured a comprehensive programme of technical, physical and skills tests for male and female players from the development centres. It also included a specialised workshop for coaches aimed at unifying the technical approach across all centres.
The programme was organised under the supervision of Iskandar al Nabuli, General Supervisor of the Basketball Athletes Development Centres, and was attended by Eng Khalfan bin Saleh al Naabi, Chairman of the Oman Basketball Association, along with a number of officials from the association and the participating centres.
The assessment covered players from the girls’ centre at Bausher Sports Complex, Seeb Club Centre, Al Amerat Club Centre, Nizwa Club Centre, Al Bashayer Club Centre and Sohar Sports Complex Centre. The tests were designed to measure players’ technical progress, physical readiness and basketball skills with greater accuracy, while also creating an official database to help the technical staff monitor each player’s development throughout the training period.
The Basketball Athletes Development Centres are among the key national projects launched by the Oman Basketball Association with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. The initiative aims to widen the base of the game and develop a new generation of male and female players across different governorates of the Sultanate of Oman.
Alongside the players’ assessments, the association organised a workshop for centre coaches. The session focused on standardising technical work, explaining the approved skills and training drills, and ensuring that coaches apply the same methodology across the centres. It also included practical sessions on the correct progression of skills, common training mistakes and the best mechanisms to correct them.
Speaking on the occasion, Iskandar al Nabuli said the technical and physical assessments were part of a wider plan to evaluate players across the centres and build a detailed database that would support the preparation of unified training programmes suitable for each age group.
We have completed the assessments in a number of centres. We started with Al Amerat and Seeb, then continued with Al Bashair and Nizwa, before concluding the programme with Sohar, he said.
Al Nabuli explained that the purpose of the tests was to identify the current level of each player from the beginning of the programme, both in terms of basic basketball skills and physical preparedness. This, he said, would allow the technical team to monitor the progress of every player after three months of regular training.
He stressed that continuous assessment is an important element in player development, as it helps identify strengths and areas that require improvement, while enabling coaches to prepare more effective training plans for the next phase.
Al Nabuli also praised the efforts of the coaches across all centres, noting that the centres are working seriously to implement the approved training programmes and follow up on players’ progress. He added that early indicators show positive development in the players’ levels, expressing hope that the tests and accompanying programmes will contribute to improving their technical and physical abilities in the coming period.
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