Saudi Arabia embraces its first-ever female basketball generation

JEDDAH: With basketball in hand, Saudi basketball player Mohanned Shobain has successfully scored many hoops in life and on the court.

Shobain is the CEO of the Jeddah Swish Basketball Academy and one of the first Saudi coaches to train Saudi female basketball players. He is also a licensed coach from FIBA (International Basketball Federation), and is currently in the second year of pursuing his FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate, which will enable him to coach anywhere in the world. A Saudi Premier League champion, Shobain said: “I am the only Saudi and one of the two people selected from Asia to take this course. I am so thankful that I’ve been picked along with another Japanese coach because only NBA coaches take this course. It’s a very, very powerful license.” For Shobain, basketball is more than just a sport. “It’s a passion, and I feel like I can influence a lot of people to change the way they think, their mind toward the sport itself. It is not just a hobby, but it’s a lifestyle, and  we can learn a lot from being inside the court such as dealing with people during the game, communication, leadership, sportsmanship, and anger management among others. It has taught me a lot of life lessons.” After Shobain completed his master’s degree from Cleveland State University in 2016, he wanted to help the Saudi community through sports. “I saw there was a lot of demand in basketball as both male and female were hungry to learn,” he said, adding, “and, the programs that we had were exactly what they needed.” In 2017, Shobain opened the doors to the Jeddah Swish Basketball Academy for budding basketball players both male and female. The academy played a pivotal role for Saudi female basketball players and coaches as it