A 38-hour bus ride from Aden to Saudi Arabia, non-stop. A hastily arranged five-day training camp. A two-hour flight to Dubai.
It is safe to say no side taking part in the 28th Arab Clubs Basketball Tournament in Dubai faced as many hurdles to compete as did Al Tilal of Yemen.
‘No resources’
The Aden-based team – 12 players, two coaches and the team president – can be forgiven if basketball were not uppermost in their minds over the past few months. Just getting to Dubai has been a mission.
“Since the start of this conflict, since March, movement has become very difficult,” says guard Samir Al Asbahee, 33. “We’re lacking in most things. Even before, you could see when we try to train there are no resources. Now you have to look after your own homes and families. But we have faith God looks after us.”
Their stay in Dubai, which began on October 31, seven days after they left Aden, may have brought a respite for the players, but their thoughts are never far away from home.
“We try and keep in touch with our family and friends but, again, resources mean that is not always possible,” he says. “We have faith in God and, as we say, you only die once, nobody dies 10 times.”
Al Asbahee has been at the forefront of Yemeni basketball since he was 17, but his career never would have taken off if he had his way and trained in taekwondo.
“My father put pressure on me to stop fighting, so I changed to basketball,” he says.
“My father was against taekwondo. He saw it as a bit aggressive, and with the sensitive situation in Yemen, even back then, he was worried that people would think that because I do taekwondo I’d think of myself as some sort of action-film hero.”
There is a sense of peaceful resignation to the way his life has panned out, though he is thankful for what basketball gave him. “I had a good career,” he says. “I left school for basketball, gave up my education. Once I started playing basketball I loved it and saw it as a way to make a living. Our situation back then was very modest, not like now. Now you can earn big money, but back then it was about US$50 a month. Most of it was for travel expense, not even a salary. That’s how it was for someone who was a product of the club, who learnt to play there.”
After 13 years at Al Ahli the last few years have seen him join Al Taleah Seyoon; then Tilal; Al Ahli for second spell; Al Taleah again, and then finally to Al Tilal again.
“The league was great, for five years I was top scorer and best player,” Al Asbahee beamed. “At Al Ahli we won so many titles, I’ve lost count. We were never outside the top three. And with the national team also we won many competitions.”
Yemen’s basketball league has been suspended since 2009, but the national team have continued to take part in regional competitions, whenever possible.“The last time the national team played together was in 2013 in Libya,” Al Asbahee says.
“The situation since 2010 has not been healthy, the association has not been in a good way. There were a lot of changes, like in the leadership, so there was lot of turmoil. But we carry on.”
Al Asbahee notes that Yemen have always been one of the top Arab teams, even though football is the No 1 sport.
‘Let’s play’
Al Tilal captain Taha Al Assari, 31, grew up a world away from the Yemen his teammates know. “I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York,” Al Assari says. “Growing up in Brooklyn, basketball is part of the culture there. I picked up basketball early in my life, playing in the park. I got more serious as I grew up.”
He played for Fredonia State University in Buffalo, New York, where he is 10th on the school’s all-time scoring list.
He was first called up to the Yemen national team at 19, which is when he started going back to his home country. After he graduated from Fredonia, in 2004, he moved to Sanaa.
“It was a shock, as far as the level of basketball. It wasn’t what I was used to, coming from the States,” he says. “The facilities weren’t as top of the line, I guess. What I admired was that it didn’t matter: all they needed was a basketball and a rim. ‘Let’s go, let’s play.’ That’s all you need when you love the game, and I embraced that, and it felt normal to me after a while. This is how basketball was there, and I loved every minute of being part of the Yemen basketball team.”
He joined the Al Ahli Sanaa team first and, after two seasons, moved to Al Tilal. “This club is as professional as you can get in Yemen for a basketball club,” says Al Assari. “I really admired how they carried themselves, how they conducted the business aspects of the whole club, so I decided to stay with them.”
The political situation in Yemen, perilous at the best of times in recent decades, deteriorated in 2010. “Once the Arab Spring happened, a lot of things fell apart, like funding from the government,” he says. “Without funding it’s hard to do anything. It’s hard to get these guys to play. I mean, they need the money. They are doing this for their families. Once there wasn’t any money coming in everyone had to go find other means of income. But we’re hoping to revive it now after things settle down over there.”
Al Assari was one of those able to leave the country as Yemen descended into chaos, moving back to the US where his parents continued to reside.
“When I went back to the States I played for fun, in tournaments here and there,” he says. “I’m part of the Muslim American Society so we organised a lot of fundraising tournaments for Yemen and Syria. I was always trying to implement basketball on my life in any way I could. I also did some coaching.”
Al Assari is now settled in Dubai, teaching English.
Throughout, he remained a registered player at Al Tilal, though for security reasons he plays with the team only outside Yemen.
Though he enjoys living in Dubai, Al Assari’s thoughts are often with those in Aden.
“I have a lot of family back home,” he says. “It’s tough because you want to do so much. You wish you can just send money every day, you wish you can bring them over. But it’s hard to get visas, it’s hard to send money because you also have your own expenses. A hundred dollars barely does anything here, a couple of meals out on the town, but to them it can support them for a whole month, so you really try and just do anything you can.”
The old days
“I remember first arriving in Yemen and the first day I got there the electricity was actually off,” Al Assari says. “That right there was a shock to me but it was normal to everyone else. It happens a few times a day. Back in 2004 it was normal. Most of the players were just hanging out outside.”
He thought it was going to be an uncomfortable situation. “But a few weeks in, a few months in, getting to know these guys and how much they cherish the game of basketball and how much it brings them some ease through what’s going on, it really was awesome.”
Success followed quickly at club and country level. In 2009, Yemen got their first win at international level at the West Asia Championship, in Iran, where Al Assari was the tournament’s leading scorer.
“Before that Yemeni teams just competed to take part, take the losses and go home,” Al Assari says. “But we got a win, and to have a player as MVP, it was all over the newspapers and people were talking about it when we got home. It was surreal to me, and got me the name of ‘Najm Al Yemen’, the star of Yemen. I’m so proud of that.”
His performances with Yemen brought him to the attention of many Arab clubs but the time was never right for him to accept professional offers, he says.
“I was actually approached by a club, but after taking three years off …” Al Assari’s words tail off. “Basketball is a lifestyle for a pro, and I didn’t want to sell them short … being part of Yemen basketball now is enough for me.”
In Dubai this week, he received an offer to play for a club in Oman. Al Assari declined again.
The young contender
At 24, Mohammed Yaeesh is young enough to have the prosperous career in basketball that has eluded some of his older colleagues. Though technically an Ahli Sanaa player, he has been loaned to Al Tilal for this tournament to give him more exposure.
“Before I was a basketball player I played football, and my father was a volleyball player,” he says.
A coach at Al Ahli spotted him and suggested he give basketball a serious try. “From the beginning I had big ambitions,” Yaeesh says. “When you see the fans supporting you, and you see the senior players travelling and playing tournaments abroad, you see them on television. All these things encourage you to be a player and to be a professional.”
There is a sadness, tinged with anger, in his voice, borne out of frustration that a career is being stifled in its prime. He was honoured as the best player in Yemen in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
“Right now, all training has stopped,” Yaeesh says. “Apart from the training camps, we haven’t trained over the last eight months since the war started. Even entering the club is not allowed. What do you do? Do you stay, work or go to a different country to escape the war?
“Of course, life now is very difficult,” he says. “Planes are overhead, there are terrorist attacks in Sanaa, in Yemen in general. Our brothers in Aden, too, are dying, this affects you mentally. Families are moving from day to day, and that also affects the way you live.
“I am playing but all my thoughts are with my family in Sanaa. What are they up to? Are they safe? Of course, we keep in touch with them, it’s what puts your mind at ease, makes you able to focus a little more on the games.”
Yaeesh is not giving up on his dreams yet, which include playing abroad. “God willing, I might receive an offer from a club,” he says. “When I go back I will train even harder. I want to make up for everything I’ve missed.”
An emotional reunion
“I think sports could do a lot for Yemen,” Al Assari says. “I just think about what it’s done for me. It kept me focused, taught me discipline, how to be part of a team … I feel if we are able to bring those things over to Yemen, everything will get better. Things like getting professionalism, discipline, education.
“I think sport can be the beginning to so many things to happen in Yemen.”
Like his teammates, Al Assari prays for the war to end, and when it does, he believes the spirit of the people will flourish.
“That’s one thing that I admire about the Yemeni people so much, their resilience,” he says. “Their ability to bounce back and just have a short memory of what just happened. I really think if the war was to stop Yemen would be back to normal within weeks, not even months but weeks. I really think they’ll bounce back really quick and get things back to normal.”
The past 10 days in Dubai have been an emotional reunion for Al Assari and his old friends, many of whom he had not seen for years.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a lot of these guys in over five years,” he says. “Our old coach, Kaysar, is still here. It was amazing, our first night together in the hotel there was a lot of reminiscing, a lot of catching up. Some of these guys are married, I’m married now. Some of them have kids already. We were just kids six years ago just playing basketball full time and not worries about anything so it’s pretty cool to be reunited.”
With the war weighing on their minds, and hardly a genuine preparation behind them, it is no surprise that the team’s results suffered in Dubai.
They lost every game but received widespread praise for their spirit and style of play. They lost by only four points on Tuesday night to a team from Algeria.
In many ways, just being in Dubai was a triumph in itself and Al Assari has already been approached about Al Tilal playing the West Asia Championship in Lebanon next January.
The journey home
Today, the Al Tilal players, minus one, begin a long journey back to their war-torn country, back to their families.
Another two-hour flight to Saudi Arabia, another 38-hour bus ride to Aden.
“I feel for these guys, and I wanted them to enjoy themselves here,” Al Assari says.
“I know we are here to play basketball, to represent Yemen, but I really just wanted them to have some fun and forget about what’s going on back home.
“I know they are not be able to but even if it’s just for a few days to forget about the heartache that’s going on there it would be great,” Al Assari says. “These guys are awesome, they’ve been using my phone all day calling their families, texting them.
“They can’t forget about what’s going on there. Even being fortunate to be here and part of this, their heart is still in Yemen.”
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