Breaking Basketball’s Barrier, “Her World, Her Rules”

A group of young basketball enthusiasts are breaking basketball’s barriers. Today, just over a dozen young girls under the age of twelve participated in the International Basketball Federation’s “Her World, Her Rules” campaign launch in Belize. It is one of the most recognized initiatives in women’s basketball. Commonly branded as #H.W.H.R., the campaign is designed to unite women and girls through basketball and help to define grassroots projects. News Five’s Paul Lopez stopped in at the launch inside the Saint Catherine’s Auditorium in Belize City. He filed the following reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

In Belize, basketball is mostly considered a male sport. A handful of school and community teams exist to develop basketball skills among girls, but most of the major basketball competitions are played among boys and men. It is a fact that Jacob Leslie, the President of the Belize Basketball Federation, acknowledges.

 

Jacob Leslie, President, Belize Basketball Federation

“I think it is one of the sport that has neglected our females for far too long. I think you can see female participation in volleyball and football, but it has been nonexistent in basketball for far too long. Like you said, as a parent, but as a former basketball player, basketball has really impacted my life significantly and the things that I have learnt through basketball have translated into my personal life.”

 

Today, a group of girls, between the ages of six and fifteen, gathered inside the Saint Cahterine’s Auditorium to change that narrative. Led by Yenny Pinilla, Coach of FIBA’s “Her World, Her Rules Campaign”, they engaged in a series of basketball drills.

 

Yenny Pinilla, Basketball Coach

“The name is Her World, Her Rules. So, when we say welcome to the playground. It is this is my place where I feel comfortable, strong, where I can do better things for me and this is the place where you can have dreams and improve your skills not just on the court but off the court as well. So I was a basketball player. I played all the time when I was six-years-old. So, I played in the national teams, I played all levels, South American Tournament, Pan American Tournaments, Pan American Tournament, I was the captain in my country.”

 

From the youngest to the oldest girl in the group, they ran across the basketball court practicing their dribble, taking close-range shots at the rim, practicing their passing, and most importantly playing and laughing through the process.

 

 

 

 

Yenny Pinilla

“It is not only here. In my country it is the same. The sports and basketball is only with boys. They support more boys than girls. The goal here is that the government and the ministers see that the girls can play basketball and can represent the country, and this is the way we can do that. So, if you are not going to start with young girls and babies like her, then nothing happens.”

 

 

Three years ago, nine-year-old Kenya Gillett, a resident of Crooked Tree Village, played a game of basketball with her cousin and immediately fell in love with the sport, as she tells it.

 

Kenya Gillett, Basketball Athlete

“One day I just mih the play with my lee cousin and I start to like it and I asked teacher mek I join the team.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Tell me a bit about why you like playing basketball?”

 

Kenya Gillett

“Because it is fun, and you get to meet a lot of people. I learn a lot of things about a lot of people. I learnt a lot of new activities that we never did in Crooke Tree.”

 

Gillett’s dream is to one day play in the WNBA. She has already developed the view that basketball is more than just a sport for boys.

 

 

 

Kenya Gillett

“I don’t think that is true, anybody could play basketball.”

 

Gillett’s much younger peer, Presly Parchue, is just as enthused about the FIBA Her World, Her Rules event.

 

Presly Parchue, Participant

“I like basketball when you have to fun and then you can beat other people in games.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How did you get to know about basketball?”

 

Presly Parchue

“Because one time I was at my niece house and I was starting to play, because the older kid he teach me how to play. That is why I love basketball now.”

 

Today’s activities come as the launch of FIBA’s Her World, Her Rules initiative in Belize. Coach Pinilla says that she will return to Belize in short order. In her absence, Federation President, Jacob Leslie, has committed to keeping the initiative alive through weekly engagement. His long-term vision is to secure athletic scholarships for these young talents to study abroad and further develop their skills.

 

 

Jacob Leslie

“I think we are sensitized. So, because our young men are committing all these crimes and different interaction, we try to find things to occupy them, and we forget our young ladies who are falling victim to teenage pregnancy and to different abuse and face the same challenges the young men face. These things are societal values. So, through sports we can impact the lives of these young ladies to engage in positive things, because they also need it and many times they are forgotten.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.