Chalakudy
A debatable eligibility rule of the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) has drawn criticism.
The new rule has put paid to the hopes of many players to participate in the State senior championships and also widened the gap between the teams, affecting the quality of competition.
In the 66th State senior championships here, the women’s event saw participation of only 11 districts with teams from Wayanad, Idukki and Kasaragod absent. The three districts could not field a team despite having a provision to field four guest players.
The new KBA rule meant each district had to have eight home players in the team and many weak districts often struggled to meet it.
The KBA recently tweaked the eligibility rules which only allowed players, who qualified by birth or by domicile residence (job and academics) to be eligible for representing a district in the State championships.
The association also stopped the practice of multiple registration which was used as a loophole by many to play in State championships.
Protection
The rule was to protect strong districts from mass exodus of players. A couple of years ago, the entire Customs and Central Excise men’s team abandoned their home district, Ernakulam, and represented another district in the State event.
Ernakulam, the defending champion, was forced to field a weak team and didn’t qualify for the knock out round.
The new rule prevented such instances but it also deprived chances of many players from stronger districts who were unable to break into the team.
The Thiruvananthapuram women’s team is mostly represented by players from KSEB. In this year’s State championships, a few of the KSEB players represented Thrissur and Ernakulam districts after fulfilling the eligibility criteria. But some players from college and school teams in the district, who had done well in the junior age-groups, weren’t lucky as the new rule prevented them from representing other districts.
Only the performance in the senior championships is considered for selection to the senior State team and it meant at least 36 players (from three absent districts) were deprived of a chance to impress the selectors.
The KBA officials defended the rule and added that in future it will ensure full participation of all affiliated districts in the State championships.
Stagnation
However, some have pointed out that new rule has stagnated the game. And the lop-sided contests and predictable results in the tournament have only justified the criticism.
