Basketball Marshallese Style

             Marshall Islanders and I have one very important thing in common: a love of basketball. A few weeks after Bryan, Neyla and I arrived, I got a knock on my door and two women, Neiar and Marie, invited me to play on their basketball team for the Town of Uliga. I agreed with ample warnings that I’m hideously out of shape and haven’t played basketball for quite some time. I showed up to the first game a week later slightly confused, since I’m the oldest player by 10+ years. Was this not an adult league? Neiar (I find out is our coach) tells me that in the Marshall Islands, basketball has historically been a “man’s” sport and volleyball a woman’s sport. Although that is changing and both sexes play more of both sports, the only women (read: girls) who play basketball are the younger generation. So it’s an all ages league, but that mostly includes teenagers… and me.

Janae's in the way back.  The Champion, Uliga Team.  

            I felt slightly weird about beating up on little kids, but that soon faded away as the old competitive Janae came out. We ended up winning all our games for the regular season, and then played Rita for the championship. The league is the Majuro Day League, and the government sponsors it. Each town (island) has a team… although Majuro has one 27-mile road going through it; it’s actually made up of a bunch of islands (now connected by manmade land & the road). Although I live on Delap, Uliga is the team that asked me to play so I represented that island. We ended up beating Rita in two games (it was a two loss system and out) and won the championship. I played as the center since I was the tallest person on our team. The next league for women is the Constitution Day League (called May Day here), which starts in April and goes into… you guessed it… May. The difference for that league is that each Atoll in the Marshall Islands has a team. For instance, Majuro will have one team for the whole atoll. I’ve already been claimed to play for Marie’s home atoll of Ebon.  I hope I make them proud.

            Now, I’d like to highlight the differences in basketball between the Marshall Islands and US. Let’s make a list:

1.     Shoes are optional. Not just basketball shoes, any shoes.

2.     It’s all outdoors.

a.     Wind. I figured out during the first game that all the locals shoot with almost zero arc. It took me until the next game (and 3 air balls) to figure out it’s because of the wind. The zero arc thing makes rebounding a three pointer way more interesting. It’s more about skill in geometry (anticipating the ricochet) and angles than fundamental boxing out.

b.     Rain delays. This isn’t something I had ever experienced with basketball before. Not only can a game get canceled, you can stop in the middle, and then restart the ½ later. Patience is key.

3.     Speaking of patience, Marshallese culture isn’t exactly know for their promptness. Marie warned me that a 6pm game really means 7pm “Marshallese time.” The best was when we had a 6pm game, which was 7pm. But then there was an argument about the roster, so we started at 7:45pm. Then there was a rain delay. I think I got home at 10:30pm that night. On top of that, the guy’s team had a game after ours. Patience. I thought I was pretty low key about time, but coming here made me realize I’m practically a New Yorker compared to these people.

4.     There’s an 8 second call which unlike in a rodeo, is actually a bad thing. It means you’ve taken 8+ seconds to get the ball past half court and results in a turnover (like a 10 second call in the States). Essentially it makes fast breaking mandatory, not optional.

5.     Cherry picking is encouraged.

6.     Giggling during a game is frequent.

7.     Stopping of play because of rain (already mentioned), stray dogs, kids running onto court… all happened.

8.     I got paid cash for winning, and not only was it legal; the government gave me the money.

9.     Free throws are an art here, due to the wind. I tried to calculate the wind speed, direction and then place myself on the appropriate place on the free throw line so I could keep my stroke exactly the same. Let’s just say, it did not work. I think my free throw average was 50%.

10.  My extremely multi-dimensional play was subdued to layups only and a couple of close jump shots. I really can’t be that unpredictable when, as a defender, you should definitely give me the 3 pointer every time. I was maybe 0 of 4 from the 3-point line.

11.  My team did not understand that you should give the other team the 3 pointer every time.

12.  Lots of people come out to watch the games. Given that this country doesn’t have a pro or even college league, the Majuro Day League and the May Day League are the big events here.

So that’s about it for basketball. It was fun, but I’m coping with the time expectations and being more flexible about cancellations. I’m striving to adapt to island time lifestyle since I’m island living.