The aim of the Hungarian Basketball Federation to restore the popularity of the sport in Hungary is on its way to be accomplished. President Ferenc Szalay tells DT the reason why basketball should be promoted so enthusiastically among young people, serious businessmen and diplomats.
“Every successful basketball team should have a powerful coach who helps secure a sweeping victory for his or her players,” believes Ferenc Szalay, President of the Hungarian Basketball Federation, whose recent triumph at the municipal elections in Szolnok also proves the accuracy of his statement. “Good leaders make the impossible appear possible,” continues the recently re-elected Mayor of Szolnok, who, in addition to and alongside his longstanding political career, has never stopped acknowledging the increasing importance of sports, especially that of basketball. In 2004, Szalay held a leading position in the youth and sports cabinet of Fidesz, and took the helm at the Hungarian Basketball Federation this year with a number of ambitious and exciting projects in mind.
What are the objectives of the Federation for the near future?
“One of the things we will try to achieve in the not too distant future is to reinstate the popularity of basketball in Hungary,” describes Szalay what he claims to be the true objective of a noble mission. While professional basketball already has its many supporters, it is also important to consider it as a recreational pursuit for all social groups. A new strategy to promote basketball as a leisure sport among the young has been recently approved. “It is refreshing to see how young people are driving to the basket again. We want to encourage more students, pouring over their books or browsing the Internet, to play basketball for fun’s sake and to recognise the significance of keeping fit,” says Szalay. He was pleased to add that the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary’s most popular faculty of more than 8,000 students, has already expressed his interest to co-operate more closely with the Federation.
Do you have further target groups as regards the popularisation of the sport?
“As basketball is, without bias, the world’s most popular indoor sport, it attracts fans from all social circles. Hungary can boast of having set up its own corporate league, which means that basketball is in the process of being patronised by businessmen, diplomats and even politicians,” states Szalay. It was in 1912 that the great-grandfather of former MP Gábor Kuncze introduced Hungarians to the world of basketball. “In two years’ time we will be celebrating the centenary of this landmark occasion. Hungary has seen many excellent amateur players from the business sector and politics: Public Prosecutor Dr Pál Solt and Dr Gábor Erdõdy, Hungary’s Ambassador at the Holy See are ardent basketball players themselves,” comments Szalay.
Why do you think basketball is the sport that suits diplomats so well?
“If one wants to be an effective leader, one will need to possess exactly those traits which are required to play basketball successfully. Not only does it build one’s team spirit but it also helps build one’s social network. I always say that basketball is the very sport that characterises our post-industrial age, because everybody has an equally decisive role in winning the game. The nature of the game undermines our age-old belief in a centralised world. This sport is specifically designed for the world of business and diplomacy, because, as in the case of playing a game of chess, one will also have to rely on one’s intellectual capacity to dictate the success of an entire team. It is a whole nation that matters for a diplomat – also, basketball is not about individual benefits but about our individual effectiveness in fostering the common goals of a team,” concludes Szalay, who is optimistic that diplomats during their postings in Hungary will promote and play basketball themselves.
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