Al Rayyan Basketball Team

Al Rayyan Basketball Team is a Qatari professional basketball team based in Omm Alafai in the city of Al-Rayyan, Qatar. Al Rayyan is one of the most successful basketball clubs in Qatar, with many domestic and international titles to its name. It is part of the Al Rayyan Sports Club. History Beginnings (1979–1998) Al Rayyan Basketball Team participated in the league after the establishment of the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) headed by Mr. Nasser Al-Mubarak Al-Ali in 1979. They had to play in outside courts paved with cement as Al-Rayyan Sports Club, or any club for that matter, did not have air-conditioned halls at that time, meaning that the surface area would be very dangerous to play on. At a time while basketball was first being introduced to Qatar, there were only four other clubs competing in the basketball league. A report published by QBF in 1982 stated the total number of basketball players in Al-Rayyan in 1970 was eight, with that number gradually decreasing throughout the decade, until 1974, when it was three. They were then coached by Sudanese Abdul Monem Salem. The game started to pick up in the early '80s after the formation of QBF. The playerbase increased, and South Korean coach Young-Suk was selected to bring the team glory. In the '80s, their team was one to be reckoned with, with the likes of Ahmed Mohammed Ali, the top scorer of the division in 1980–81, and Omar Mohammed, the top scorer of the youth division in the same year. Players were laid off in the mid-'80s, rendering the club ineligible to compete in the 1985–86 season. In 1988, the club had once again picked itself up again, with the juniors winning the 1988–89 and 1990–91 seasons. By 1992, the club had more than 95 players.