Kuwait City, Kuwait, June 5, 2022: Nadia Yusuf Al-Hasawi stands out among the crowd. To be precise, she was seated on Sunday, May 5, among the group of 22 basketball coaches from all of West Asia participating in a practical course run by FIBA coaching instructor Milan Kotarac.
To add to the distinctiveness of her presence is the fact that she is a basketball referee, and not a coach, but was making full use of the opportunity presented by the Olympic Council of Asia Phase Three Development Programme in athletics, basketball and tennis to broaden her knowledge of the sport.
“I am a referee, but I decided to join this basketball coaching course simply because I want to learn more about the game. And what better way to learn than to join a class full of coaches being taught by a FIBA-qualified instructor,” smiled Nadia.
Coaches and referees in the three sports from 12 National Olympic Committees in the region are honing their skills under the eyes of experts from the world and Asian governing bodies of the individual sport, and Nadia was in the basketball mix – a referee among coaches as she watched Serbian Kotarac show the finer points to his class.
“I have always had a passion for basketball from school-going days. I have three brothers, and funnily none of them like basketball, but me, the only girl in the family, loves it. My parents are okay and tolerate my passion,” revealed Nadia who is Kuwait’s only female referee – a table official.
So strong is her interest in the sport that she is studying for a PhD from the Mansoura University in Cairo, Egypt, and her thesis is on, oh yes, basketball.
