By John Cairns
YUNG SHUE WAN, Lamma Island, Hong Kong – “You're a Canadian. Why do you want to join the Lamma Island Pinoy Basketball League (LIPBL)?”
This question arises constantly since I used my gray-haired head to decide that I'd like to play in Lamma's colorful, five-team basketball league. Most of the players are Filipinos, but with a few Chinese and other “imports". Along with fans, they fill Yung Shue Wan's basketball court each Sunday.
My simple answer is that I want a share of the fun. To anyone who questions my qualifications based on nationality, I mention that my countryman James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. Maybe every league needs a Canadian.
Next there's a follow-up question: “How is it to be one of the oldest players?” Actually, it's like trying to steer a sputtering farm tractor along a highway full of sports cars. Everyone I encounter moves faster and slicker than seems fair, yet it's still a competition full of pleasing possibilities.
Gray Hawks Perch in First
On September 18, the league's second game-day, a third-quarter scoring spree carried the Gray Hawks to an upset 102-84 victory over the defending-champion Awesome Tigers (green uniforms). Mostly youthful despite wearing gray, the Hawks stand undefeated after two games, alone in first place. They're also the first team this season to surpass 100 points in a game.
A second contest saw Huggen D'ass (in red) outlast the Lamma Lickers (yellow) 74-63. This defensive struggle tilted back and forth until the final minutes when the red team moved ahead to stay. Although winless in two starts, the talented Lickers remain a serious threat to every opponent.
Father Time Never Kids Around
As a member of the red team, Sunday's game felt like a special occasion to me. So nostalgic! For the first time in more than 30 years, I played in a real basketball game, one with serious teams, uniforms, referees and courtside fans. What a long absence! Fortunately, I'd played in many games away back in the even more distant past, then, as on Sunday, wearing number 32.
Like riding a bicycle, you don't forget how to play basketball, but Father Time takes a serious toll. Everything you remember doing becomes much harder to execute. Gravity grips at you like never before. Whatever happened to out-jumping opponents? (Ha! I almost hear my knees laughing. “That was long ago, bud. It's a different era.”)
Once on the court warming up with my younger teammates and eying our opponents (some players are teenagers, many more are less than half my age), I recalled the year 1976. Ah, yes! What a fine time for basketball, but so long ago! Then China's “great helmsman” Mao Zedong still lived. Gerald Ford led the United States. Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippines. But luckily, I'm not quite old enough to have played under the watchful gaze of James Naismith.
In the 1970s when I last played, some basketball details differed. For example, players' sports-bags seldom made persistent ringing noises. And three-point shots weren't common. Shorter shots meant more predictable rebounds. With modern players flinging shots from outside the three-point line, the rebounds bounce all over hell's half-acre.
Luckily, the LIPBL adopts a policy that all players see action with substitutions every four minutes. That's ideal for older guys who love the challenge, but need chances to rest. As I heard another senior player remark, “Even for just four minutes, it's very exhausting.”
During the game, I tried to apply a vital strategy, one of defensive position. Older players must move quickly between attacking opponents and the basket. It's impossible to challenge the youngsters by chasing them.
A yellow-team veteran once reminded me of this when I mentioned his son, a young star with the Gray Hawks. “I still can chase him,” said the father. But not successfully, we both realized.
Several fellow-players have made a point to tell me about a blue-team opponent who proudly wears number 53, his age. “That's amazing,” said one. “I considered retiring, but knowing that he still played, I decided to do the same.”
“You're not making me feel any younger,” I thought, knowing that my own 53rd birthday looms.
Despite Father Time riding on my shoulders, Sunday's game went reasonably well. My teammates excelled. As for me, well, there's room for improvement....
In the post-game handshakes (and even on Lamma's Main Street the next day), several people approached me to ask, “Are you alright? You fell down several times.”
“No way! I didn't fall,” I scoffed. “I was chasing the ball.”
Diving at the ball forms part of the game. But apparently some spectators fear the worst when an “old guy” goes from standing to lunging on the court.
After Sunday's game, I'm keen for more. In fact, the older guys probably gain the most through better fitness, general well-being and team camaraderie. But sadly, none of us can reverse the hands of time – at least not for more than a few seconds.
Brilliant Organizers
The LIPBL's organizing committee does a brilliant job. After a new electronic scoreboard proved difficult for fans to read in bright sunshine, the organizers reinstated a blackboard-and-chalk version to operate simultaneously.
In another enhancement, bursts of sports-theme-music play at crucial moments. Much of it sounds familiar from professional basketball, horse-racing and even ice-hockey.
The referees, who come to Lamma for the games, perform well too. Without them, any disputed basket or foul could trigger endless arguments. Last Sunday, one highlight arose from a situation seldom seen in other leagues. An alert referee whistled play dead when a nonchalant dog wandered onto the court, presumably taking a favorite shortcut. Once the dog trotted on, the game resumed.
Impressively, the spectators range from toddlers to grandparents. Some of the latter surely remember the 1970s too.
The LIPBL looks like a win-win activity for everyone – even for the players on teams that lose games.
As one fan said when departing, “This makes great Sunday entertainment! See you next week!”
Then the tractor and all the sports cars will try to hit their top speeds again. And yes, it's fantastic fun.
(Most photos by Chun Yin Wah)
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