Classroom lesson 路 Sport馃嚤馃嚙 Lebanon

Basketball - Lebanon's roaring sport

The packed-out indoor sport Lebanese fans love most

A basketball mid-flight towards a hoop in an indoor sports hall

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Lebanon. The country has its own professional league, a passionate national team, and packed stadiums on match nights. Lebanon's national team has played in the Basketball World Cup three times and reached the FIBA Asia final more than once.

Tell me more

Lebanon's basketball league is called the Lebanese Basketball League. Big city clubs like Sagesse, Riyadi and Champville have huge fan groups who drum, sing and chant through whole games. The atmosphere is closer to a football stadium than to most basketball halls - in a country where indoor sports are usually quiet, Lebanese basketball is the noisy exception.

The national team has had its proudest moments at the Asian Cup, where Lebanon has reached the final three times. At the 2006 Basketball World Cup, Lebanon beat France in the group stage - a result still celebrated by Lebanese fans.

Lebanese children learn basketball at school, in church youth clubs, and on open courts in city parks. Many courts have no nets - just a metal hoop and a faded backboard - but games still go on every afternoon. A 1.5 metre tall 10-year-old can dribble past you in a flash.

Lebanon punches above its weight in basketball partly because the country is small. The pool of players is tiny compared to a country like the USA, but a high percentage of children give the sport a serious try. When the national team plays, half the country watches.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a smaller country still do well in a sport played by huge countries?
  2. 02Basketball is usually quiet, but in Lebanon it's noisy. What changes when fans sing through the whole game?
  3. 03What is the sport your school is most proud of? What makes it special?
Try this

Classroom activity

As a class, list every sport your school plays. Vote: which one has the biggest school spirit? Then look up which sports are popular in Lebanon (basketball, football, volleyball, skiing). Are any the same as yours? Are any surprises?