Shooting Friday morning basketball in Satwa

Just next to Satwa park are two public basketball courts and a tennis court, seemingly always in use, the former exclusively by Filipino men.  I'm not much interested in basketball, but I'm always interested in taking photos of something different and meeting new people, so I made my way there yesterday morning for a couple of hours of shooting.

I learned that the facilities are locked over night and open at 08:00.  I'm not sure how teams are sorted.  The men I spoke to said these are pick-up games, so perhaps individuals get sorted into teams on site.  It could also be that a group of friends play together regularly, as was suggested about the Japanese guys that sometimes play with the otherwise all-Filipino crowd.  I noted one man had a list of players sorted into teams and ranked by their order of play.  I got conflicting answers from different informants about the exact number, but it seems there is an upper limit to scoring and once that number is reached, teams are rotated.

Satwa Behind Walls

For more of what this means, see yesterday's post.

Disappearing Satwa

Satwa behind walls

A tract of land between Trade Centre and the commercial area of Satwa has for many years been an open space where laborers played cricket and where the many drivers living in Satwa parked their trucks and buses.  It was a space occasionally used for events, and across which many Satwa residents walked to and from the metro stations along Sheikh Zayed Road.  The area also contains many old homes and apartment buildings, most housing south Asian laborers, though a few old Emirati families remain.