Basketball; a shot at getting people active and potentially helpful in life? Aishah Islam City and Islington College

With the steady rise in the popularity of basketball, I wanted to investigate the sport through someone who actually plays it. Here comes in Samson Adeola, a passionate 17 year old who has been playing for 7 consecutive years and hopefully more. I got the chance to ask him about the sport and what it means to him as after all; it must be quite special for him to dedicate around 8 hours or sometimes more to it weekly while juggling school and a social life.

I asked this athlete who was the captain of his secondary school, Skinner’s Academy, basketball team which he led to becoming 2nd in Hackney in a borough competition.  Samson himself was also a runner up for the Hackney sport award for his contributions to basketball. He describes basketball as a “high intensity sport” which has the additional benefit of being a sport which can be an advantage if you want to be more active. It also requires “teamwork and cooperation to operate” which are skills that can be beneficial in real life. Furthermore, he strongly felt basketball “is a sport that allows you to channel your emotion whether these are anger, sadness or happiness”.

He personally plays basketball within his school, Sir John Cass Sixth Form College, or in Finsbury Park. Samson used to also help out the younger years with basketball during Physical Education and often still goes back to do so. He is currently part of a group who actively play basketball but is not “currently part of a team as it stands. But if you do want to be a part of one, there are many around and you just have to ask questions in the right place-such as in your local leisure centre”.  To Samson, playing basketball is when he is able to “get rid of any stress from exams or a hard day” and just by finding time to play, he’s able to “shoot it all away as well as keep fit.” He hopes that many others who play basketball, are just starting up or are even just interested always have the opportunity to be able to pick up a basketball and see what they are capable of.

Aishah Islam, City and Islington College