Abu Dhabi

What better way to spend Valentine’s day than to play basketball in Abu Dhabi right? Well 7 years ago, I spent Valentine’s day anxiously watching Watson compete on Jeopardy, which I have to say was pretty awesome. But basketball in Abu Dhabi is pretty cool too.

I don’t think Abu Dhabi is a big basketball city as I went by many basketball courts but most were empty.

The first court I looked for was right near the Abu Dhabi Corniche beach, and the last time I played by a beach court, I had tremendous success in Vancouver so I had high expectations.

Nope – only little kids playing here. But there was a nice skating park right next to it and it was filled with BMX bikers

A 20 minute walk away was Capital Garden park. It was surrounded by a fence and it took me forever to find the entrance but I realized why it had a fence…you had to pay. I was stopped the entrance person and he said it cost 1 AED. I looked over at the basketball court and saw people playing soccer on it, so I decided not to enter.

Because of our blogs very tight budget, my editors praised my frugalness for refusing to pay 1 AED (~$0.27 USD). 

The final court I went to for that Monday night was at Ahalia Basketball Court. It was a court surrounded by tall buildings which kind of made it pretty neat like a small pond in a big city kind of feel. It was FILLED with people.

Everyone was Filipino and I later learned that the Filipino’s have a large community in the UAE. Pretty cool to see this many people playing basketball.

I would assume it would be hard or near impossible to play here if you didn’t know anybody because 1. There were at least 3 teams of 5 waiting, and 2. There was a signup board that you had to sign/or make a team, to play next.

Unsure how it worked and I wish I had actually asked someone, but at this time, it was getting late and I didn’t have time to wait next, next, next so I left. But the place I stayed was 1 block away from this court and I walked by it on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings times and I can safely say that the Monday night had by far the most people playing. Tuesday had maybe 15 people max, and on Wednesday, there was a non-Filipino shooting by himself on the court. I was busy both these days so I did not attempt to play.

On my last day in Abu Dhabi, I had signed up for a Meetup group at the Zayad Sport City basketball courts and that’s where I ended up playing basketball.

Finding and getting to the court (6 – it seemed like this was Abu Dhabi’s main sports complex so if anybody wanted to do anything athletic, they would end up here)

This was the only meetup Abu Dhabi offered and it seemed like the only opportunity for me to play basketball so made the most of my time here strategically getting a flight right after basketball at 2am the next day.

This Meetup almost didn’t happen because the organizer did not think people would play basketball on Valentine’s day but he eventually gathered enough interest to still host it. They play every Wednesday at the outdoor basketball courts at Zayed Sports City. He did mention they are trying to secure an indoor court at some other venue so the days and times may change.

I went to Sheikh Zayed Mosque right before and I had hoped to walk to the basketball courts as Google maps said it would only take 40 minutes, but after leaving the Mosque, I had no idea how to walk there as it looked like I was walking near a highway or a very large road. I ended up just taxiing there, but don’t expect the taxi driver to know where the basketball courts are as Zayad Sports city is enormous. I just ended up getting dropped off near the center of the sports city and walked around until I found the courts. I knew they were near the tennis courts but you just kind of have to walk around until you find the courts.

The Basketball Court (6 – typical outdoor courts but hoops with no backboards scared me)

Typical outdoor courts, but when I first got there, I saw these

For a second, I thought we might have to play basketball on these hoops. I later learned that it’s an actual sport that people play and supposedly it makes you a better shooter…I’ll differ until I actually see it happen.

Anyways, back to the court. The courts were fine and specifically only made for basketball. No other lines were drawn except for basketball lines, which made it nice because they were clearly there and everybody was able to see the 3-point line and out of bounds. Because this was at a sports complex, there were also lights, so you could technically play all night, though I am unsure when they turn off.

I will say that you do have to pay to use the court. While we were playing, a worker person came out to our court and asked us to pay. Fortunately, the organizer had all this covered.

The Players (5 – very tall people but lacking talent…plus a girl)

At first glance, I believe these were the tallest players on average I’ve played against (Rome may actually be taller). I was the first person to arrive and as I waited for people to come, every person who joined seemed to be over 6ft tall. I wonder if Abu Dhabi people are just taller or when a city has less interest in basketball, only the serious people come out to play basketball, and that typically means taller players.

Besides the height, there were 2-3 guards that were under 6ft. Not that it mattered because no one played in the post.

Just like Dubai and any other city where people try to make teams even at the beginning by manually hand picking each team, I was placed on the team with clearly the 2 best players. A under 6ft guard who was the only person there with handles and an uber athletic 6’3 guy who had the most energy out of anyone out there. He did not stop running, had great athleticism and wanted to be a part of the action every play. His basketball IQ could be much higher, but his athleticism made it ok for this pickup game.

Like I said, lots of tall people, but little post moves or skills. The talent level could be much higher. There weren’t any great fundamental plays made the entire night. Almost all points were scored off fast break points or those “how did that go in” points.

This is also the 2nd time where a girl has played during my adventures around the world. She did not seem to have much basketball experience but everyone was nice enough to let her play and have her get shots off. I’m not sure how this would fly during a much more competitive setting but it was fine here.

Conclusion

Don’t be deterred by my review here. I am very picky when it comes to basketball and I think I just expect more. Players should start here if coming to Abu Dhabi for the first time to meet friendly people to play basketball. If I had stayed here longer, I would definitely come back to this group and ask around (the better players) if any of them play in other (better) leagues.