ሓጺር ድሕረ ባይታ ጸወታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ኣብ ኤርትራ.
ስፖርት ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት (Basket-Ball) ኣብ ኤርትራ ከም ኩዕሶ እግርን ቅድድም ብሽክለታን ፍሉጥን ዝውቱርን ኣይነበረን። ኣብ መወዳእታ 1940ታት ኢጣልያውያንን ግሪኻውያንን፣ ድሒሩ ኣብ ግዜ መግዛእቲ እንግሊዝ ድማ እንግሊዛውያንን ኣሜሪካውያንን ዝያዳ የዘውትርዎ ምንባሮም ናይቲ እዋን መዛግብቲ ይሕብሩ። እቲ ንጥፈታት ዝያዳ ኣብ ኣብያተ ትምህርቲ ብመንሰያት መምህራን እናተዘውተረ ብምምጽኡ፡ ከም ዓውዲ ስፖርት ኣብ ማሕበረሰብ ሃገርና ብሰፊሑ ክተኣታቶ ምኽኣሉ ኣብቲ ዓውዲ ናይ ነዊሕ ዓመታት ተመኩሮ ዝነበሮም መም/ፍቓዱ ገብረስላሴ ኣብ ሕታም መጽሔት ዕልልታ ስፖርት 2001 ዘስፈርዎ ጽሑፍ ይሕብር።
ከምዚ ልዕል ኢሉ ዝተገልጸ ስፖርት ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ብፍላይ ካብ 50ታት ንደሓር ኣብ ኣብያተ ትምህርቲን ትካላት ምድላው መማህራንን እናተዘውተረ ብምምጽኡ ሓያሎ መንእሰያት ፍቕሪ’ቲ ዓውዲ ክሓድሮም ደሪኹ እዩ። ብፍላይ ኣብቲ እዋን’ቲ ብዝተፈላለየ ንጥፈታት ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝነበሩ ወጻእተኛታት (ኣውራ ኣብ መደበራት ሬድዮ-ማሪናዮን ቃኘውን ዝነበሩ ኣሜሪካውያን) ዝተፈላለያ ጋንታታት ብምምስራት እቲ ዓውዲ ስፖርት ዝያዳ ብደቀባት ኤርትራውያን ዝዝውተረሉ ባይታ ክፈጥሩ ከኣሉ። ኣብቲ እዋን’ቲ እምበኣር መንእሰያት ተማሃሮ ኣስመራ ጋንታ እምኩሉን ካልኦትን ጋንታታት ብምቛም ኣብቲ ዓውዲ ኪዋስኡ ጀመሩ። እንተኾነ ኣብቲ እዋን’ቲ ብዝነበረ መግዛእታዊ ዓሌታዊ ኣፈላላይን ኣድልዎን እተን ናይ ወጻእተኛታት (ብፍላይ ኢጣሊያውያን ጋንታታት) ምስ ደቀባት ኤርትራውያን ተሓዋዊስና ኣይንጻወትን ዝብል ሕቶ ብምቕራቦም እተን ዝቖማ ጋንታታት ደቀባት ንበይነን ንጥፈታተን ቀጸላ።
እተን ናይ ደቀባት ጋንታታት ዝበዝሑ ኣባላተን መምህራን ብምንባሮም ቁጽሮም ብርክት ዝበሉ ተማሃሮ ደድሕሪኦም እናኸዱ ክስዕዎምን ከተባብዕዎም ተራእዩ። ከምዚ ኢሉ ድማ ጸወታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ዝያዳ እናተዘውተረን እናተፈትወን ስለዝኸደ ጋንታታት ክቖማ ጀመራ። ገለ ካብኣተን፡-
– ጋንታ ኤርትራ
– ጋንታ ተድዓሊ
– ጋንታ ኪዳነ-ምሕረት
– ጋንታ ኣዱሊስ
ከምኡ’ውን ጋንታ ኣፍሪቃ ክጥቀሳ ይኽእላ። ሓያሎ ሰዓብቲ ከፍርያ ስለዝኸኣላ ድማ “እቶም ምስ ጸለምቲ (ኤርትራውያን) ኣይንጻወትን” ብምባል ተሓሲሞም ዝነበሩ ጸዓዱ ገዛእቲ ሓሳቦም ብምልዋጥ ከይፈተዉ ምስ ኤርትራውያን ተሓዊሶም ክጻወቱ ተቐሰቡ። እቲ ንጥፈታት እናሓየለ ድሕሪ ምምጽኡ ድማ ጋንታ ኦሎምፒክድ (ናይ ቤት-ትምህርቲ ግሪኻውያን ኣስመራ)፡ ጋንታ ቃኘው (ናይ ኣሜሪካውያን)ን ካልኦትን ክምስረታ ብምኽኣለን እቲ ውድድር ዝያዳ እናማዕበለ ከደ። እዚ እናኾነ ግን ዝበዝሑ መንጎኛታት (ደያኑ) ናይቲ ውድድራት ወጻእተኛታት ስለዝነበሩ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ርኡይን ቀጻልን ኣድልዎ ይፍጽሙ ነይሮም። ምስ ግዜ ግን ኤርትራውያን ስፖርተኛታት ነቲ ዘጋጥሞም ዝነበረ ኣድልዎን ጸቕጥን ብትዕግስትን ተጻዋርነትን ስለዝበድህዎ ክእለቶም እናኣማዕበሉ ክኸዱን ዋናታት ባዕሎም ክኾኑን ከኣሉ።
ካብ 1960ታት ኣብ ዝሰዓበ ገለ ዓመታት በብመድርኹ ሓያሎ ጋንታታት ክምስረታን ሰሓቢ ብቕዓትን ጸወታን ከርእያን ብምኽኣለን ጸወታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ኤርትራ ክሳብ እዋን መላእ ሓርነት ኤርትራ 1991 ድሕሪ ኩዕሶ እግርን ቅድድም ብሽክለታን ኣብ ሃገርና ብሓያል ደገፍ ኣፍቀርቲ ስፖርት ተሰንዩ ኣብ ውድድራት ኢትዮጵያ ዓበይቲ ዓወታት ከመዝግብ በቕዐ።
ኣብ ፈለማ ዓመታት ናጽነት ብውዕዉዕ መንፈስ ዝቐጸለ ጸወታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ኤርትራ ኣብ ኣስመራ (ብፍላይ ኣብታ ምስ ጸወታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ናይ ነዊሕ ዓመታት ምትእስሳር ዘለዋ ሜዳ ስፖርት ክለብ ቦቺዮፊላ) ንሓያሎ መንእሰያት ናይ ውድድር ባይታ ብምፍጣሩ ኣብቲ እዋን’ቲ ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ኤርትራ ቆይማ ምስ ሱዳንውያን ጋንታታት ብምግጣም ምቕሉልን ተስፋ ዝሃበን ዓቕሚ ሃገርና ኣብ ምግምጋም ዝሓገዘን ውጽኢትን ብቕዓትን ከተንጸባርቕ ክኢላ’ያ። እዚ መንፈስ’ዚ ከኣ ዝያዳ ናይ ምዕባለን ውድድርን ሃዋሁው ብምፍጣሩ ንጥፈት ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ከም ካልኦት ዓውድታት ብደረጃ ሃገር ብፈደረሽን ተጠርኒፉ ኣካል ማሕበረሰብ ስፖርት ዓለም ክኸውን መንገዲ ተጣጢሑሉ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሓምለ 1998 ወግዓዊት ኣባል ዓለማዊ ማሕበር ኩዕሶ-ሰኪዔት (FIBA) ክትከውን ከኣለት። ካብቲ እዋን’ቲ ንደሓር እቲ ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ንጥፈታቱ ዝያዳ ኣብ ኣስመራ ጥራይ ተሓጺሩ ዝነበረ ዓውዲ ስፖርት ናብ ኩለን ዞባታት ክባጻሕን ክዝውተርን ግዜ ኣይወሰደሉን። ከም ውጽኢቱ ብኽልቲኡ ጾታታት ናይ ዝተፈላለየ ክሊታት ዕድመ ዓመታዊ ናይ ሻምፕዮናን ዝተፈላለየን ኣጋጣሚታት ውድድራት እናተወደበ ክሳብ’ዚ እዋን’ዚ ስሩዕ ንጥፈታት ይካየደሉ ኣሎ። ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ናይ ናጽነት ዓመታት እተን ንውድድራት ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ክመርሓ ዝጸንሓ ፈደረሽናት እዋኑ ዝጠልቦ ቀዳምነታት ብምስራዕ ኣብ ምፍራይ ተካእቲ ተጻወትቲ፡ ምምዕባል ዓቕሚ-ሰብ ምሕደራ፡ ዳንነትን ስልጠናን፡ ምትእትታው ናይ Mini Basket-Ball ጸወታታትን ካልእ መደባትን ብምሕንጻጽ ኣብ ምሕያል ንጥፈታት ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ኤርትራ ሓያሎ ስራሓት ክዓማ ክኢለን እየን።
ኣብዚ ዝተጠቕሰ ግዜ ብደረጃ ክለብ ይኹን ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ብዙሕ ብቑጽሪ ዝጥቀስ ተሳታፍነት ኣህጉራዊ ውድድራት’ኳ እንተዘይነበረ፡ ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ኤርትራ ኣብ ፈለማ ናይ ናጽነት ዓመታት ኣብ ሱዳን፡ ኣብ 2006ን ከምኡ’ውን ዝሓለፈ ዓመት 2019ን ኣብ ኬንያ ኣብ ዞባዊ ውድድራት ሃገራት ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ ዝተሳተፋትሉን ዓቕማ ዝገምገመትሉን ናይ ውድድር ኣጋጣሚታት ምጥቃስ ይከኣል።
Short History of Basket-Ball in Eritrea
Basket-ball was not practised in Eritrea prior to its introduction by the Italians and Greeks in the end of 1940. The sport was frequented during the British colonialism by the English and Americans residing in Eritrea. In an article in the sport magazine, ” Elelta” in 2001, Mr Fikadu Gebresilsie, a teacher and long-time enthusiast of Basket-ball, wrote that after its introduction in to the Eritrean community, basket-ball was then picked by the Eritrean youth and gained foothold in various schools where it was played by students and teachers.
As mentioned above, especially after 1950s, basketball became a beloved game among Eritrean youth and it was frequently played in schools and then Teacher Training Institute (TTI). Particularly the establishment of varied basket-ball teams by aliens residing in various positions in Eritrea mainly Americans in Radio Marinaio and Kanew stations, created a platform for native Eritreans to play the sport. Eritrean youth living and studying in those times in Asmara, founded basket-ball teams like Emkulu and others. Nevertheless, because of the prevailing air of racial injustice and prejudice reigning in this period of Eritrean colonialism, the White teams particularly the Italian teams refused to play with other similar indigenous teams, preferring to remain segregated, thus the created native teams held tournaments among themselves.
As most of the members of the Eritrean teams were teachers, many of their students were among their main supporters and others were influenced to play the sport. Consequently, the game became beloved and common resulting in the formation of many basket-ball teams like Eritrea, Tedali, Kidane-mihret, Adulis and Africa.
These Eritrean teams had good following with many supporters, which promoted the white teams to change their mind about segregation and started to play indigenous teams. This activities reached its crescendo, culminating in the creation of other known teams, like Olympiad (Of the Greek School in Asmara) and Kanew (an American team from Kanew station).
Despite these developments, as many of the referees were white, their discharges were with many racial prejudices and discriminations against Eritrean players. In time though Eritrean athletes were able to be their own masters after overcoming these challenges and discriminations with fortitude. From 1960s till independence of Eritrea, basket-ball enjoyed good following after football and cycling. In these period, many strong teams with good capabilities were formed and went on to succeed in various tournaments held in Ethiopia.
In those first years after independence, basket-ball enjoyed an ardent fervour among Eritrean youth, particularly in Bochio-villa, a place which has been associated since long time with Basket-ball. In this atmosphere, the National Eritrean Basket-ball team was created, and it was able to compete with the Sudanese teams, showing good performance that helped estimate the abilities of the Eritrean players. This spirit created an environment of development and competition that climaxed in the formation of the National Federation of Basket-ball. On July, 1998, Eritrea officially became a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Hereupon, in short time basket-ball was introduced to other zones of the country. As a result, many sporting activities, tournaments of different age groups and men’s and women’s events are held regularly. In these past years of independence, the committees organizing Eritrean basket-ball and the national Federation since its formation have taken the timely initiative in developing human resources , cultivation of future younger players , training of referees and introduction of Mini-Basket-ball and other programmes, implementing outlined activities.
In those times, although there were not many participations by individual teams or the National Eritrean team in the international basket-ball arena, the National Eritrean team, in the early independence years, participated in Sudan, in 2016 and also in 2019 in Kenya in the regional tournament of East Africa.