(Editor’s Intro: Basketball Culture is a new segment where we will be exploring basketball around the world, not just in professional leagues but also as part of the communities who play the game.)

We’re very honored to introduce our Basketball Culture segment to the world by diving into the Philippines, who this year has the distinction of having played basketball for 100 years.

Basketball was brought to the islands of the Philippines around the 1900s, by YMCA volunteers who had just spent the previous 10 years learning the game from the creator of the sport, James Naismith, in a small gym in Springfield, MA.  By 1910, basketball became official; the American colonial powers made it a mandatory part of the physical education component of schooling around the country, and thus a love affair was born.

The style of the game was therefore allowed to develop at its own pace, in parallel to the American game.  Today we speak so often of the differences between European, Asian, Australian, American and African basketball players and play, with so many obvious differences between points of emphasis, defensive and offensive sets, even the way players learn to shoot to or pass.  Philippine basketball, however, is arguably one of the very few, if not only, styles of basketball that developed not with an expectation of form or purpose derived from American basketball.   Rather, Filipino players learned moves and shots they developed themselves purely from experimentation and repetition.  Of course this has been successful to varying degrees over the years, and today we see more and more aspects of the American game creeping in, but for so very long Filipino games were like an ABA highlight film, with scoops and double pumps and rarely a pass thrown while actually looking at the intended recipient.

While the style may be changing, there is certainly no loss of passion for the game.  From the state of the art stadiums of the Philippine Basketball Association right through to the backstreets of the smallest village in Cagayan, basketball hoops are on every corner, next to every road, in every neighbourhood, on every block.

“Everywhere you look in the Philippines, there’s a jerry-built basketball game. In farming towns without paved courts, kids dribble on dirt and bank shots off of two-by-fours lashed to coconut trees. On Manila street corners, players who can’t afford sneakers run the court in flip-flops or bare feet.” The Slate

This early love took the basketball world by storm.  From the 1910s to the early 1930s, the Philippines dominated the Far Eastern Games basketball tournament, winning 9 of 10 basketball championships.

In 1936, the Philippines played in the Berlin Olympic Games basketball tournament, the first time basketball was played as an official sport in the Games. The Philippines beat Mexico and Estonia, but lost to the United States in the quarterfinals. The Philippines went on to beat Italy, and Uruguay to finished fifth in the tournament.

Soon thereafter, thanks to the ever growing number of small tournaments and leagues created by passionate players and supporters around the country, the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) was formed in 1938, and dominated Philippine basketball for almost 40 years, replaced eventually by the Philippine Basketball Association in April 1975, and the Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL) in 1983.  The PBA is now the premier League in the country, having merged with the PABL.

International success, however, has waned, and the Philippines, though enjoying great talent at home, have not been able to translate that into international championships, prompting the now-repeated cries of panic from local media.

It is an unusual situationl as its popularity continued to grow, basketball began to take over any other national pursuit.  Stories abound of the Philippine national boxing team having to share shorts, while basketball players enjoyed full sponsorship and financial support.

“Then there’s the basketball bait-and-switch that Philippine politicians have perfected over the past several decades. What’s the cheapest way to earn some votes? Build a basketball court and paint a mural announcing to your constituents that their new backboards were a “project of Mayor delos Santos.” Never mind costlier, more urgent needs like improved access to clean water and health care. In communities that have come to expect next to nothing from their elected leaders, some breakaway rims and free jerseys are often enough to buy voters’ loyalty at the polls. Maybe Philippine hoops isn’t facing a crisis. Maybe it’s too widespread and too powerful, worshipped too much by too many people.” SLAM Online

In fact it is impossible to walk down the streets of Manila without seeing buses and taxis adorned with the faces of Kobe, Jordan, Lebron, AI and naturally the many PBA stars loved by all.  Every wall seems to have at least a couple of pictures of NBA stars plastered across it, and the very successful basketball channel on local television can be heard blasting out classic games from around the world, 24/7.

Indeed, because of such immense popularity, basketball in the country has been an incredible aid to breaking down social barriers and assisting development within the country, with both governments and charities making use of the game in this way, not to mention the interest such passion sparks around the globe.

At the very least, basketball has helped to provide a sense of identity, a sense of national pride and a showcase to the outside world, remarkable achievements for a nation that had to endure colonisation several times in its history.  As the popularity of the local league and city-wide competitions grow, here’s hoping the international success returns to a very deserving, very loving, basketball nation.