St Vincent’s NBA-style basketball court – first of its kind in Pune

A first-grade maple wood surface has been used to construct the court, and the St Vincent’s Sports Vision (SVSV) committee believes that this surface is not used on any other court in the city

In what could prove to be a boon for the sport of basketball in the city, St Vincent’s High School and Junior College, camp inaugurated a National Basketball Association (NBA) style basketball court in the city – the first of its kind in the city to be used exclusively for the game of basketball.

(From left) Mustafa Lokhandwala and Noel Fernandes of batch 1982; Mother Mary Frances, superior general of the congregation of Carmalite order; Francis Patekar, principal, St Vincent’s High School and Junior College; Kenneth Misquitta, SJ Rector; Praful Chandawarkar of batch 1982; Francis Santan D’Souza of batch 1967; Andrew Fernandes, SJ Provincial of Pune Jesuit Province; Viraj Oswal of batch 2005; Bal Gurjal of batch 1968 and Vikram Shingare, SJ St Vincent’s High School at the inauguration of the indoor basketball facility at St Vincent’s High School on Saturday. (Sanket Wankhade/HT PHOTO)

A first-grade maple wood surface has been used to construct the court, and the St Vincent’s Sports Vision (SVSV) committee believes that this surface is not used on any other court in the city.

The work to construct this Rs 95 lakh court began last December and it took three months to be ready.

Also, what’s worth noting is that the brunt of the expenditure has been borne by the ex-students of the school who have been raising funds over the years to make Vincent’s an even bigger sporting destination for school and college kids.

Praful Chandarwarkar, who has been working with the St Vincent’s sports vision committee and Vincent’s old boys association (VOBA), explained why the school wanted to have such a facility on its premises.

“This is the finest basketball court in the city and the reason we’ve done it is because we want to start training kids from the age of six or seven to develop them into better players for the future. Junior NBA with the support of Reliance is coming to India. In fact, they want to find one Indian player like they did with Yao Ming for China to go on and play in the NBA,” he said.

Walking into the court, it’s hard to miss out on the number of posters of current and ex-NBA players hanging on the walls.

There are also four immaculate pictures of St Vincent’s basketball jerseys of different eras. The sound-proofing has also reduced the echoing that used to take place in the hall before and it now feels like a completely professional facility. SVSV is now planning to add retractable bleachers on all four corners of the court to have a seating arrangement for 150 people.

NBA style court

What makes it an NBA style court is the flooring and the wood used to make it. The floor is made of hard maple which is a dense wood with fine fibres which makes it resistant to splintering - which is the same surface found in all NBA courts. The shot clocks, scoreboards, dugouts, court dimensions are also all identical to the NBA court.

How much does it cost?

45 lakh for the floor

20 lakh for the acoustics

10 lakh for ventilation (windows, fans)

5 lakh for the lights

10 lakh for the bleachers and dugouts

5 lakh for civil work (final layers of paint and polish, exit doors etc.)

Total: 95 lakh