Nadezhda Grishaeva, a professional basketball player and agent, is on a mission to make basketball more accessible worldwide. Her journey, encapsulated in the phrase, “Dreams are like that: today you are dreaming it, tomorrow you are living it,” led to the creation of her unique Anvil fitness club.
Over the past two years, Nadezhda’s focus has been the Middle East, where she has gathered extensive knowledge and insights on basketball. Her analysis has given her an in-depth understanding of the sport’s status and developmental goals in the Gulf countries.
She remarks, “My analysis shows that the existing financial and technical foundation is insufficient for the promotion of basketball both as a mass sport and as a sport of the highest achievements. At the same time, the growing popularity of basketball in the Middle East is associated with great potential for growth.”
Nadezhda identifies crucial challenges preventing basketball from reaching its full potential. She points out, “The first problem is that the population of the Gulf countries have either poor or superficial knowledge of the rules of this sport. The majority of the population has little understanding of the merits and benefits of playing basketball.”
The lack of a coherent youth sports system and unresolved issues in support areas are stalling basketball’s growth and the training of national teams.
She also highlights the need for better basketball infrastructure, emphasizing the sport’s inclusivity for all age groups.
Her dream of opening a basketball academy resonates with the aspirations of locals and expats who seek quality training in well-facilitated environments.
Recognizing the government’s pivotal role, Nadezhda’s goal is to create an environment conducive to regular basketball playing, fostering a healthy lifestyle and improving international competitiveness.
Among the main problems that need to be solved in order to achieve this goal, she will include the following:
1) develop and implement a set of measures to promote basketball as a sport
2) improve the training methods for top-class athletes and sports reserves to increase competitiveness on the international sports arena
3) increase and further develop organisational, managerial, personnel, scientific, methodological, medical and biological support
4) develop infrastructure.
Nadezhda views the following activities as the main focus areas of my basketball academy:
– Improving the training of top-class athletes
– Developing children’s and youth sports and preparing the most viable and prospective sports reserves
– Putting research into practice and implementing latest developments in the field of theoretical and methodological foundations of the athlete training system.
Nadezhda concludes, “I am convinced that the successful implementation of the proposed measures will ensure that more people will take an interest in basketball and it won’t be long before there is a need for systematic PE classes and sports training sessions.”
