Ascent of Armenian Basketball

YEREVAN (ANOC press service) — Since 2011 the Basketball Federation of Armenia has been working actively to recruit Armenian talented basketball players from all over the world and to create strong teams. The implemented work has given its result and now many people want to join the Armenia national basketball team and to represent the motherland. In 2016 Armenia will join in the European Championships with four teams which is a record in the history of our state.

Juniors’ team
The team comprised of 16-year-old juniors is going to take part in the European Championships-Division C. Boys playing exceptionally in Armenian teams will play for the national team. The European Championship which will bring together 10 teams will clearly show what we can expect in future from Armenian young people who live and train in Armenia.

Youth team
Last year the Armenian U20 or simply the youth team successfully performed at the European Championships-Division B celebrating 3 victories of 7 games. At present the Armenian youth team ranks 29th among 54 European countries. This year four basketball players who played for the youth team last year, have moved to the Armenia national team. Maybe this year also four or five players will move to the national team. In modern basketball many strong teams constantly accept players from youth teams.

This year seven Armenian players from Russia, Syria and the USA as well as one foreign player are going to make their debut in the youth team. They will take part in the European Championships-Division B where a heated competition is expected (basketball superpowers such as Russia and Croatia are among the participants).

The national team
For the first time in the history of independent Armenia, the Armenia national team will participate in the European Championship for Small Countries where eight teams are going to compete. The championship will show our team’s potential which will include Armenian basketball players from the US, Russia and Ukraine.

The main goal of the Basketball Federation of Armenia is the regular participation in the qualification rounds of World and European Basketball Championships since 2017. According to the new regulation the participants of qualification round will have home and away matches thus letting thousands of fans to root for the national team in Armenia. All age group teams of Armenia should take part in the 2016 European Championships if we want to have a strong team. After deep analysis and studies, the Armenian Basketball Federation has come to the conviction that it is impossible to bring basketball to a high level of popularity in Armenia without constant participation of the national team in championships. The national team should become a locomotive for the development of basketball. The good example of it is the countries that have succeeded in basketball.

Women’s basketball – U18 team
The Basketball Federation of Armenia also pays attention to women’s basketball and this year the Armenia U18 women’s team will take part in the European Championships-Division C. Last year the team took the second place in the U16 European Championships-Division C inspiring everybody with great hope. This year players from Russia will join the team making it stronger.