Doha: The new season of the Qatar Basketball Federation's (QBF) Mini-Basketball Festival 2025-2026 got underway Saturday at Al Gharafa Hall, marking the first official gathering of the season and drawing over 140 budding players from across the nation's nine basketball clubs.
According to Qatar News Agency, the festival, held under the auspices of QBF, featured young talents representing Al Sadd, Al Rayyan, Al Arabi, Al Wakrah, Al Gharafa, Al Shamal, Al Khor, Qatar, and Al Ahli, the clubs competing in the Qatari General Basketball League.
Festivities unfolded amid a celebratory atmosphere, packed with families and supporters of the players, giving the event a family-friendly character and promoting the communal spirit of the Qatari basketball family, coaches, administrators, and coaching officials alike.
Competitive activities and skill-based contests were held under the superintendence of the QBF's coaching committee, with the participation of professional youth coaches, aiming to cultivate a learning environment that blends rejoicing with coaching and physical development, enhancing young players' ability to internalize core basketball skills at an early stage.
The festival stands as one of the cornerstones of QBF's long-term strategy to advance this kind of sport, with a focus on discovering promising talents in the early age categories. The plan aspires to build a robust foundation of players capable of representing Qatar's national teams regionally and across Asia, thereby cementing the nation's status as a rising basketball hub.
Speaking to the media, Assistant Secretary-General and Chairman of the Competitions Committee at QBF, Ahmed Yousef Al Darwish, affirmed that the festival represents the first official congregation of the new sporting season, underscoring the QBF's determination to expand basketball's reach and broaden its base of active players across Qatar's sports clubs.
QBF attaches great importance to nurturing a new generation of players endowed with the skills and competitive mindset necessary to challenge strong regional and continental sides, he pointed out.
Al Darwish further emphasized that through this festival and future training programs, QBF aims to launch continuous talent-development initiatives designed to shore up both the coaching and mental capacities of young players, a vision that epitomizes QBF's clear long-term roadmap for a bright future in Qatari basketball.
Overall, the festival has become a pivotal landmark in the sports calendar, drawing the presence of clubs, federation officials, and talent scouts, all focused on identifying promising players and providing them with coaching and developmental support to ensure a strong, sustainable foundation for basketball in Qatar.