Captain Assad (C, standing) with Gold's Gym kids. Umar Abdul Salam JEDDAH – Captain Assad kicks off the 7th annual Gold's Gym 3-on-3 Ramadan Basketball Tournament Saturday (today). The games start at 10 P.M. and teams can register at the gym. Sony is sponsoring gifts along with the gym offering free memberships for the winners. Captain Assad has been teaching basketball to kids at Gold's Gym in Jeddah for the last 8 years. His experience in the Kingdom while playing basketball is unrivaled among his peers. Captain Assad took to sports at the age of 12. He was an excellent athlete. At the age of 14 Assad started playing basketball under coach Bilal Sayeed at Al-Ahli Club. There were no other places to play basketball in the community. When asked how many years did he play for Al-Ahli, he said that from the age of 14 to 39, a total of 25 years. Captain Assad played for the Saudi national team for 22 years. During his career he played in numerous championship games and won once while he was on the junior team and led the first team to one championship. His best years were when he played under American coach Zaid Abdul Aziz. He won the Top Scorer in The World award at the World Basketball Games. Replying to a question what advice would he like to give young kids starting to play basketball, he said to be patient, listen to the coaches, keep playing hard and believe in oneself.
