With the festive period now over, Duplays has wasted no time in adding even more leagues to their packed schedule for the new year.
Their latest is the women’s ‘Fastbreak 2016’ and men’s nine-week ‘Basketball Division 1 and 2’ events, beginning on January 10, 11 and 13 respectively.
Following the success of previous editions, the women’s event is set to be bigger than ever. Matches will be played on Sundays at Dubai College over six weeks with the emphasis focused on attracting competitors of all different abilities.
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And the men’s basketball leagues returns for another season with competitive level on Mondays at Dubai International Academy.
If you’re trying out the sport for the first time or are keen to develop your skills, then GEMS Wellington Academy will host the Recreational league on Wednesdays.
As UAE’s biggest sport and social club with over 5,000 members, Duplays knows a thing or two about organising leagues and tournaments.
Their portfolio includes volleyball, football and badminton and it’s no surprise that basketball has been a huge success, given it is widely played in the country.
“Basketball is a fast-growing sport in the UAE,” said Kris Belen, Duplays’ league adminstrator.
“It might not be as popular as football but our leagues that we’ve held since launching the sport on our programme has always had a great turn-out and we hope the new leagues will be another success.”
She added: “We’ve seen with the women’s game, that there are many ladies who enjoy playing basketball and thought it would be best to introduce one over a longer period. This will be the start of many more ladies’ basketball tournaments.
“For the men’s games, they’ve been very popular and always had a good number of teams sign up. Matches are very exciting and you can see that players really enjoy themselves.”
All three events will follow regular FIBA rules with no more than nine players per squad. With a few days to go until the action begins, Belen insists there’s plenty of positives from taking part.
“It will be challenging but will be lots of fun,” she said. “We want to encourage many people to be active and playing basketball at Duplays is a great way to start the new year and make new friends.”
What: Duplays’ new basketball leagues
Where: Dubai College, Dubai International Academy, GEMS Wellington Academy
When: Beginning January 10
Contact: https://duplaysdubai.playpass.com
