Maharashtra Boys; Chhattisgarh Girls win 2011 Sub Jr. National Basketball Championship

Basketball fans in Lucknow were given a visual treat on Friday evening as the best under-14 teams from around India clashed in the Finals of the 38th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in the city’s RDSO court. Eight days of exciting hoops action ended in fitting manner as the boys’ final saw Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra fight neck-no-neck in a classic final, which was finally won by Maharashtra. The Girls’ championship was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, and for the seventh consecutive year, it was Chhattisgarh who emerged as Sub Jr champions.

Basketball fans couldn’t have asked for a better final than the face-off between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Boys, two teams with contrasting but effective styles. The teams stayed close throughout: Andhra Pradesh using taking advantage of their length and speed, while Maharashtra relied on their skill and passing. AP had a slim, one point lead at the end of the half, but couldn’t extend on the advantage: neither side was able to go over more than four point of their opponent for the majority of the game.

With the game reaching its last moments, Maharashtra had overturned the score and had a three point lead in the fourth quarter, thanks to their talented guards who penetrated and passed very well all night. AP made some crucial mistakes in the end, and Maharashtra’s Zaid Shaikh pulled out big, level-headed plays to give his side a 61-58 win and the National championship.

“We had practiced very hard for this championship, and came ready to dominate,” said Shaikh, “We had beaten AP in a blowout early in this championship, so we had to be wary of their backlash tonight. Luckily, we were able to play well in the end and win – our team’s strength was our great combination.”

M. Siva Durga of AP led all scorers in the final with 16 points.

The girls’ final was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Chhattisgarh Girls have been an unstoppable force in the Sub-Junior level, and win another big victory on Friday, won their 10th championship in 11 years. Chhattisgarh, who have been the best team in the competition, were in no mood for a slip-up in the final, as they started strong and refused to slow down against their opponents. Saving their best defensive performance for the finale, Chhattisgarh outscored Karnataka 36-7 in a devastating first half.

Chhattisgarh’s defense focused around stopping Karnataka’s Lopamudra, who had been the best individual player in the girls’ section in the tournament. With Lopa on check, Chhattisgarh were able to cruise in the second half and celebrate their seventh consecutive Sub-Junior national title with a 64-21 victory. Riya Verma led Chhattisgarh in the final with 23 points.

“We are a strong team because we are very united,” said P. Divya, the captain of the Chhattisgarh side, “We were prepared for this team because we had defeated them in the final last year, and in this year’s tournament, we knew that our team was too strong for any opponent.”

Earlier on Friday, the 3rd/4th place games were held: In the boys’ game, Punjab overcame a slow start against Chhattisgarh to make a strong comeback and win 70-47. Punjab were led by Guksewala (21 points) and Abhi (16). For Chhattisgarh, Mithun, who had scored 46 points in a loss to AP in the semi-final only the previous night, led the scoring charge of his team with 18 points in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

In the girls’ game, Maharashtra played a strong second quarter to overturn the score against Kerala and then race to a 48-37 win to clinch third place. Maharashtra were led by Veera who had 16 points.

Mr. V Ramachandran, the Director-General of RDSO, was the chief guest at the final and handed out the prize-winners trophies. “I was very glad to see the talent on display here and wish to see many of these players representing India one day,” said Ramachandran, “My best wishes go out to all those who took part in this championship. I would also like to thank the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), and RDSO for conducting this big event.

For the first time in the Sub-Junior nationals, individual prizes were given for the Most Promising Players of the tournament. With the award, the individual players were also given a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each. The awards were given to:

Boys: M. Shiva Durga (Andhra Pradesh)
Girls: Riya Verma (Chhattisgarh)

Final Scores

Boys: Maharashtra (Shaikh Zaid 13, Astekar Aditya 12, Shaikh Mearaj 11, Shaikh Hammd 11) bt. Andhra Pradesh (M.Siva Durga 16, B.Neeraj Kumar 11, P.Durga Prasad 10) 61-58 (18-15, 13-17, 14-10, 16-16)

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Riya Verma 23, P.Divya 12) bt. Karnataka 64-21 (23-6, 13-1, 7-2, 21-12)

3rd/4th Place Matches

Boys: Punjab (Guksewala 21, Abhi 16, Sukhder 13) bt. Chhattisgarh (Mithun 18, Hitesh 12) 70-47 (10-15, 15-9, 19-9, 26-14)

Girls: Maharashtra (Veera 16) bt. Kerala (Aleena 14) 48-37 (10-12, 12-4, 12-10, 14-11)

Finals Standings

Boys
1. Maharashtra
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Punjab

Girls
1. Chhattisgarh
2. Karnataka
3. Maharashtra

Nawabketball? Lucknow has its own special liaison with hoops

Known to most as the ‘City of Nawabs’, Lucknow is a city that has popular across the country for its history of Kings and Nawabs, for its ‘Chikan’ embroidery, for its amazing monuments, its literature and poetry, its mouth-watering kebabs and biryanis, and its welcoming, secular culture. In the area of sports, the capital of Uttar Pradesh has had a distinguished history in providing some famous names to India’s most popular sport (cricket) and its national sport (hockey).

But few know that this city holds a special liaison with basketball, too. For the past week, the RDSO basketball courts in Lucknow have been hosting the 38th Sub Junior National Basketball Championship; but let’s turn back the chapters in the pages of history to the year 1978, when the first basketball court was constructed in the RDSO ground.

This ground holds special significance for hoops aficionados, because, not long after the construction of this new court, the Indian National Basketball team played a match here against the squad from ‘Athletes in Action’, a popular touring basketball team from the USA.

From that first court, both RDSO and the culture of hoops in the city have come a long way. “Basketball is growing a lot in this city, but things could certainly get better,” says Pankaj Singh, the former Secretary of the Lucknow District Basketball Association (LDBA), “Of course, the main sport here is cricket, which is popular everywhere in this city. And Lucknow also has a great history in hockey.”

Basketball may not have produced stars from the city like Cricket or Hockey did, but in terms of local success at the state and national level, the game hasn’t been far behind. “Lucknow is one of the oldest cities with a basketball culture in the country,” claims Bhupendra Shahi, the General-Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), “At this point, there must be around 70-80 good basketball courts around Lucknow: it is a city with several good convent schools and they all boast a court.”

At the senior level, Lucknow also has a five teams which represent the city in State championships: RDSO, Lucknow District, Lucknow University, UP Police, and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). Lucknow is one of the few districts in UP which constantly fields strong basketball teams, along with Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, and Allahabad.

The current RDSO squad, which has been UP champions over the past three years, is littered with several players who have played at the national level.

Shahi also recalls a great period from the mid 70s to the early 90s where UP Police were the most dominating team in the state, winning consecutive championships for almost two decades.

Lucknow has also produced a few players who have gone on to represent the Indian Basketball team at the international level. Past stars include Abhinav Singh amd Shagun Singh. Currently, Rakesh Yadav has been a regular feature in India’s international team camps.

And the epicenter of hoops activity in the city is back where we began: at the RDSO courts, where the Sub-Jr. Nationals are now. There are now three courts at the RDSO grounds – the last two were constructed in 1986. “The main RDSO building is also now being renovated,” adds Shahi.

Here in these courts, a total of nine All-India Inter-Railway basketball championships have been played, and three pre-Asian championships with the Indian national teams have been held, too. The 38th Sub-Jr Nationals are also the third National Basketball championship being held in Lucknow: in 1986, RDSO hosted the Senior Nationals, and in 2007, the Youth Nationals were held here. The courts have also hosted half a dozen state championships.

But what excites Shahi more about the city’s basketball story is its future: “We have started a day-boarding scheme at the SAI Center in the KD Singh Babu Stadium in the city,” Shahi says, “All of our Junior level kids practice here and improve their game under good SAI coaches. The improving performance of our junior players at the national level is proof of this.”

The current Uttar Pradesh Sub-Jr team, featuring several youngsters from Lucknow, continued that tradition of steady improvement for the state. The boys’ team in particular improved their standing from 7th place in 2010 to 5th place this time around, a placing which doesn’t tell the full story of the exciting basketball and hard-work that the youngsters brought to the championship.

N Shiv Kumar, a former national-level basketball player and current RDSO employee, has spent 19 years in Lucknow, and soon after retiring from the game of basketball, got his first chance at coaching in the nationals when he was handed the help of the UP Sub-Jr Boys team in this year’s Nationals. This team has four players who hail from the city of Lucknow itself, and the girls’ team had six local players.

Speaking on the boys’ squad, Kumar said: “This team has played well in the championship. And some of these young players have a lot of potential.”

Kumar does admit that teams who practice and play in Lucknow will tend to struggle when they leave state to play in national championships in other parts of the country, a reason he attributes to the lack of an indoor court in the city. “Lucknow is badly in need of an indoor court,” said Kumar, “Most of the Nationals are now taking place in indoor courts: our players, who spend most of their time practicing outdoors, struggle to adapt at the national level.”

There were plans to build an indoor court several years ago at the RDSO grounds, says Kumar, but the plans soon went awry as the government funds were allocated to other sports.

Basketball in the city needs a boost, and the next step in this city of great cultural and special hoops history would be the construction of an indoor court. The city’s burgeoning basketball-loving public await the day when a new court is build at the RDSO, and they can host an event as spectacular as the Indian national team and the Athletes In Action once again!

Why Basketball? 7 young ballers reveal what drew them to love playing hoops

In its immense length, breadth, and variety, there are few if any countries as unique as India. In the basketball realm, this uniqueness is reinforced during the national championships, where state teams from nearly every single corner of the country come together for a week or 10 days to take part in a colourful basketball festival. Within a matter of hours, the same basketball court could witness players who speak Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Mizo, and a host of other languages.

The city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is currently hosting the Sub-Jr (U-14) National Championship: and what makes this level of basketball nationals even more special is that fact that the sub-juniors (or the ‘mini’ as it used to be known) features the youngest members of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) family. For most of the young kids in this tournament, this championship is their first taste of the growing nationwide basketball society in India: those that grew up playing basketball in Kerala will realise that Gujarati players follow a similar regime to their known; those who were trained in Assam see that players from Andhra Pradesh shoot the same way.

Their backgrounds, languages, social standings, religions, and schooling may be different: but these kids share two things in common – their age level, and their love for the game of basketball.

This presented a wonderful opportunity to find out what brought them all together to this game. Why choose basketball? From an inspiring older sibling, to a motivating coach, to an unexplainable, inbred affection for the game, here are seven 13-year-olds from around India who discuss what drew them to love playing hoops. See if you share any of the same stories:

Asmita Nain from Kaithal, Haryana

“When I was young, I used to watch my seniors play in school, and I felt that this could be my game. When I got into basketball, it was just like getting into any other hobby, but during the course of my learning, I came across an important quote that made me realise that this was really the game for me. On a notice-board in school, I saw the words: ‘Basketball is 90 percent mental, and ten percent physical’, and this is something I agreed with.”

Sambed Prasad from Bangalore, Karnataka

“I’m quite tall for my age, and so naturally, I was encouraged to try out this game. One of my father’s friends was a former distinguished player and he suggested to us that, with my height, I could have good potential. I immediately began to like the game myself because it is so fast-paced!”

Samita Lama from Maligaon, Guwahati, Assam

“I have an older cousin sister back in Assam who used to play very well. She played in several Nationals and told interesting stories about them. I was very encouraged by her. Then, my father also wanted me to get into this game and wanted me to become a good player. He introduced me to a good coach in the local stadium in my town, and from then onwards, my game started to improve!”

Rahul Hitesh Purohit from Vadodara, Gujarat

“Basketball is a fast-paced and enjoyable game. I picked the game up only as a hobby at first to stay fit, but soon it became my passion, and now I’m at the Nationals!”

Nikhil Narayan from Chennai, Tamil Nadu

“My family has been playing basketball for several generations. I started playing it when I was just in UKG, when I was just four or five years old! I had a great coach back home who taught me the game I grew older and helped me develop. I was also inspired by NBA players that I watched on TV and I wanted to play like them. Basketball is a good game that helps us stay healthy. But for me it’s more than that: I feel that this game is part of my nature.”

Zaid Sheikh from Mumbai, Maharashtra

“I can’t think of any other game besides from basketball – from the time I was eight years old, I picked up the basketball and then, never practiced any other game! I was inspired by my older brother who also played the game. I saw a certain style and energy in it when he played it and I liked it.”


Shaffy Garg from Mansa District, Punjab

“I used to watch older players in my school play basketball, and I was very attracted to it. I started playing, but at first, there were no girls in my school who played basketball, so I used to play with the boys! It was only later on that I began playing the game with girls! Basketball is the game that I understand the best, and that is why I stick with it.”

Now, reader: tell me your story? What made you choose basketball?

Sub-Jr Nationals: Holders Chhattisgarh start strong in India’s premier U14 national basketball championship

India’s finest under-14 level basketball players, from all four corners of the country, gathered together as the 38th Sub-Jr. National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls got under way at the RDSO basketball courts in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday. Although the first day of the championship was disrupted by heavy showers, perennial powerhouses Chhattisgarh girls started off strong again with a convincing victory over Punjab.

24 boys’ teams and 23 girls’ teams are taking part in this championship, which features the youngest members of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) family. The nationals, organised by the BFI and the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), was inaugaurated by the chief guest V. Ramchandran, the director-general of RDSO, on Thursday evening.

Mr. Alok Sharma, the president of the UPBA was also present at the opening ceremony and encouraged the young hoop stars at present at the tournament. “You have come here to enjoy the game. At this stage, you learn the basics of basketball, you learn to win, and you learn to lose. Learning to lose is as important as learning to win.”

The Chhattisgarh Girls side, winners of the 2010 championship in Kangra, started where they left off in Lucknow with a dominating win over Punjab. Chhattisgarh only allowed Punjab to score one point in the first three quarters, and were comfortable 43-8 winners.

In a close Boys’ game, Andhra Pradesh edged out Haryana 36-34. After taking a comfortable eight point lead at the end of three quarters, Haryana made a furious comeback in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to stop AP from a close victory.

Final Scores

Boys

Andhra Pradesh (MA Salman 11) bt. Haryana (Mohit 11) 36-34 (5-10, 10-6, 11-2, 10-16)

Girls

Chhattisgarh (Rhea Verma 13, P. Divya 12) bt. Punjab 43-8 (18-1, 7-0, 4-0, 14-7)

Delhi bt. Himachal Pradesh 25-10 (3-6, 7-0, 8-4, 7-0)

Haryana (Meena 16, Nikita 10) bt. Gujarat 38-14 (20-4, 4-0, 8-4, 6-0)

Young stars from 24 boys’ & 23 girls’ teams clash in Sub-Jr. Nationals in Lucknow

Featuring the young and budding basketball stars in India from all corners of the country, the 38th National Basketball Championship for Sub Junior Boys & Girls will be held at the RDSO Stadium in the city of Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) from September 16-23, 2011. This is a championship for Under-14 players and will feature 24 boys’ and 23 girls’ teams.

The ‘Sub-Junior Nationals’ will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA). Players born on or after 01.01.1998 are eligible to participate.

The participating teams are:

Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

The reigning champions of this trophy are Rajasthan Boys & Chhattisgarh Girls, who won last year’s Sub Junior Nationals in Kangra (Himachal Pradesh).

Rajasthan Boys and Chhattisgarh Girls hoist Sub-Junior National Championships

The IMG-Reliance 37th Sub-Junior National Championship for Boys and Girls came to an entertaining conclusion as the finals were held on Thursday evening at the Municipal Corporation Basketball Court in Kangra (HP). In front of a large crowd of fans who had been engrossed in some intriguing basketball over the past week, Rajasthan Boys and Chhattisgarh Girls emerged as champions.

In the first game of the evening, the sub-junior girls from Chhattisgarh took on a tough squad from Karnataka, who had been putting up some excellent performances in the competition. But Chhattisgarh had been the strongest team in the tournament, beating each opponent by a large margin. They proved their efficiency yet again in the final with a 63-47 victory, led once more by their star forward Riya Verma.

For Chhattisgarh Girls, this victory further cemented their domination over the Sub-Junior division. This was their ninth title in the past ten years. “We have been winning for a long time, and it was important for us to continue this winning tradition,” said Riya. Chhattisgarh were in action again in the Boys division, as the youngsters took a tough squad from Rajasthan. It was a competitive and hard-fought game in the first half, until the Rajasthan team finally began to loosen Chhattisgarh’s defensive shackles and impose their will on the game. Led once again by Mahipal Singh (28), Rajasthan opened up a 16 point lead in the third en route to a 54-40 victory.

“We are repeat champions, and it feels happy to win here!” said Mahipal, who will leave Kangra after some legendary performances, “I will move on to a higher division next year and I want to continue winning!”

In the third-place match-ups Delhi Boys defeated Madhya Pradesh Boys and the Madhya Pradesh Girls edged Tamil Nadu Girls in a close game. Munish Sharma, the President of the Himachal Pradesh Basketball Association (HPBA), commented on the conclusion of this memorable tournament. “We have worked very hard to make sure that the competition was held successfully,” said Sharma, “From the behalf of the Basketball Federation of India and the HPBA, I want to thank all the players and officials who took part in this tournament coming from different parts of the country, and thank the local people of Kangra who enjoyed themselves and hosted such an event.”

Final Scores:

Girls: Chhattisgarh 63 (Riya Verma 22, P. Divya 15) bt. Karnataka 40 (Supriya 14, Krupsree 10)
Boys: Rajasthan 54 (Mahipal Singh 28, Akhilesh 12) bt. Chhattisgarh 47 (ON Jaiswal 10)

Third Place Playoffs

Girls: Madhya Pradesh 35 bt. Tamil Nadu 33
Boys: Delhi 41 bt. Madhya Pradesh 35

Final Standings:

Boys

Rajasthan
Chhattisgarh
Delhi
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Punjab
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Haryana
Kerala


Girls

Chhattisgarh
Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Maharashtra
Kerala
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Punjab
Jharkhand

Little Mountain town of Kangra soaks in basketball culture

Think Kangra. Think a quiet mountain town in Himachal Pradesh. Think hilly terrain, twisty-turny Himalayan roads, and cold weather. Think temples. Think a few kilometers away from Dharamsala, picturesque tourist destination and the centre of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. Think a little further from Mcleodganj, the home of the Dalai Lama's monastery and a mini hippie-paradise.

Well, if that's all you think when you think Kangra, you need to think again.

For the last week of September, this little Himalayan town has temporarily become the focal point of basketball in India. The Himachal Pradesh Basketball Association (HPBA) is hosting the IMG-Reliance 37th National Sub-Junior Basketball Championships here, from September 24-31. For one week, the three main courts in town have been invaded by fierce young basketball players from all corners of the country – Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerela, Karnataka, Goa, Rajasthan, and many more including the hosts Himachal Pradesh.

"There has always been a craze for basketball up here in Kangra," said Munish Sharma, thePresident of the HPBA, "Even though it's a small town, hundreds of youngsters go out and play the game in our courts every day, practicing hard in the mornings and the evenings. Basketball is a very popular sport here, and apart from the three main courts being used for this competition, we have a few more smaller ones."

Just how popular is basketball here? Well, his opinion may be slightly biased, but 13-year-old Nitin Mehra, a local boy who also played for the Himachal Pradesh Sub-Junior squad, said that most kids are seen playing either football or basketball in Kangra. Cricket comes in third place.

"I first got introduced to basketball through my older sister," said Nitin, "For the past three years, I've been coming out regularly and playing. The games are very competitive here."

There has been an electric atmosphere around town ever since the Sub-Junior nationals tipped off here. The scenes around the man Municipal Corporation Basketball Court are surreal: intense basketball games, cheering crowds, and rap/bhangra music blaring out the speakers, amongst the surroundings of an otherwise sleepy mountain town.

But perhaps the most surreal thing is the confidence in the young players – many of them are playing in this sort of competition for the first time, but seem to show no sign of being unhinged by the stage. "I have been playing basketball for five years now," said Chahana Suresh, the captain of the Karnataka girls' team, hours before the team's Quarter-Final match-up against Maharashtra. "We have a much stronger team this time around than last year, and we are confident that we can win the tournament this time around."

Suresh added that the best team in the Girls' section was Chhattisgarh, but her squad was ready to face them, too. "We will beat them by defence – that is our strength," Suresh added, "Defence is the best offence!"

In the Boys' section, the team from Chhattisgarh have emerged as one of the strongest as well, and their captain Tarendra Kr. Yadav feels that few teams will be able to come in their way to the title. "We will play Madhya Pradesh first, and then Rajasthan, who are probably the best boys' team," said Yadav, "But we are confident we will beat them – we have a good team full of talented sharp-shooters."

Another encouraging scene in this year's tournament has been that several parents (and grandparents) have accompanied their children up to Kangra to watch them play and learn the game themselves. "This is my first introduction to basketball and I'm beginning to enjoy it a lot!" said Dr. Meenakshi Dhar, mother of Kerala player Aniruth, "This is the first time my son is representing the state, and we are going to continue to support him discover his talents as much as possible."

Aniruth has quite a support-squad with him: his grandfather Balbir Singh Yadav has also come up from Delhi to watch the youngster perform.

Aniruth said: "These games are very intense – our team didn't know as well as I expected, but we will work on improving our performance in the future."

Similarly, another parent, Dorothy Gomindes, came with her son and her son's team all the way from Goa for the tournament. "This has been a very well organised event," Gomindes said, "We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Kangra."

Back to the basketball courts – the cheering crowds have been showing up regularly to support their favourite teams, or just be witness to some exciting basketball. After all, the finest future Indian hoop stars are sure to emerge out of these talented young players.

There has been a great response by the locals to the tournament, believes HPBA President Sharma, and he is hoping that this spirit will continue. "We have done well with the organisation, but we want to improve," Sharma said, "We are hoping to renovate the Municipal Corporation court and make a more stadium-like structure to provide comfort to the attending audience. We also have hopes to be able to construct an indoor court here in Kangra."

When it comes to hoops, the future seems bright for this little town. Think Kangra. Think Basketball.

Sub-Junior National Championships tip-off on Friday

The season of National Championships has returned! The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will be organising the 37th All India National Championship for Sub-Junior Boys and Girls in the picturesque town of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh from the 24th-31st of September. Hosted by the town’s Municipal Corporation Basketball Courts, the championship will feature the youngest members of India’s basketball family.

This will be in invaluable opportunity for the best sub-juniors in the country to showcase their skills. The preliminary group games will take place over the first few days, before the tournament will move on to the knockout stage from September 27th. The Final is slated to be held on Thursday, September 30th.

Only players born on or after January 1st, 1997 are eligible to participate in this competition. The age verification of all the players will be done by the Age Verification Committee/Medical board on Thursday, September 23, one day prior to the beginning of the tournament. The Technical Commission will also conduct the Referees’ Clinic on Thursday at the venue.