The Province

Thunder mastering the downward dunk

Panorama Ridge coach has hardcourt pupils honing their game on yoga mat

- Howard Tsumura

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar swore by the practice. And Phil Jackson, during his NBA coaching days with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, embraced its benefits, both from a physical and a mental standpoint.

Now, one local high school coach is making yoga a big part of his senior boys varsity basketball team’s regular training regimen.

“We did our first team yoga session in mid-November and I saw the benefits right away” says Raman Bedi, the coach of Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder.

“It immediatel­y put the emphasis on relaxing and staying present. They felt so loose and so good that they fell asleep after the session.”

The Thunder will not only be wideawake when they open play Thursday (4 p.m.) at the Langley Events Centre against the Burnaby South Rebels in an opening-round game at the Tsumura Basketball Invitation­al, they will have started a process that the 28-year-old Bedi hopes manifests itself throughout the course of the long campaign and has them ready to play their best basketball as March Madness approaches.

A teacher at Panorama Ridge who is currently studying for his masters in health education and active living at Simon Fraser University, Bedi found himself getting to know profession­als from all walks of the wellness community.

“I am surrounded by a lot of health practition­ers and I was able to build a lot of contacts there,” the former North Delta Huskies player says of getting to know Naseem Gulamhusei­n, Langara College’s yoga teacher training program co-ordinator.

“And I have always been about taking care of the body and having it work at optimal levels.”

Through Langara, Bedi has not only introduced the team to yoga, but has also arranged for a number of the school’s student massage therapists to work practicum hours on his players. In his mind, it’s all part of a larger component of the game that has been ignored for far too long.

“My boys know how to play the game, but if they don’t appreciate their bodies, they are not going to be able to perform over the long term,” he says. “If your body is not loose, you might still be able to do the basics, but by the end of the day you look like a pylon when you should look like you’re flying through the air. When you watch the pros, you can tell which ones do flexibilit­y training.” And so the Thunder rolls on. Talented seniors Harsimran Bhullar and Rajan Atker and Grade 11s like Raphael Alcorez and Gurshael Jessel will be the ones leading the way. And while the benefits of their specialize­d training may not immediatel­y reveal themselves, Bedi remains a believer that so many facets of his team’s game — from athleticis­m and endurance to unity and positivity — will wind up being enhanced. “It’s important to teach them about well-being and the importance of flexibilit­y, mindfulnes­s and staying present,” he says. “The boys have implemente­d yoga practice into their daily lives and with it success is coming on the court, in the classroom and in their daily lives.”

 ?? RICHARD LAM/PNG ?? Coach Raman Bedi of Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder senior boys basketball team has introduced yoga to the team, which has been embraced in the past by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson.
RICHARD LAM/PNG Coach Raman Bedi of Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Thunder senior boys basketball team has introduced yoga to the team, which has been embraced in the past by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson.
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