I
have played basketball for a few years back in England, but after almost a year
of travelling around and being in places where it wasn't a popular sport, I was
excited to come to Salamanca and try and seek out some opportunities to
continue playing. I knew the sport was
big in Spain with some Spanish players, such as Pau Gasol playing at a top level in the NBA in America.
Compared
to England where for most of the year we are limited to playing inside, I knew
with the great Spanish weather there would be some opportunity to play
basketball in the open air, and wasn't disappointed with what I found! Here in
Salamanca there are loads of good quality outdoor courts to play and practice
on. The most popular that I have visited
so far is in the 'Parque de los Jesuitas' not far from 'Paseo Canelejas'. Here
they have four outdoor courts next to each other with good smooth ground and
good quality baskets. You can often find locals playing basketball down here
and it's really easy to get into a game with them! This gives you the option of
just practicing on one of the rings (with so many there it is very rare that
all are occupied) or joining in for a bit of a scrimmage with the locals! The
setting of the courts is great, set at the bottom end of the park in between
trees and next to some fountains, it's a very pretty place to play basketball.
There is also a bar in the middle of the park and plenty of trees to relax
under in the shade after a hard game out in the sun! Though this park seems to
be the main place to go as it is the closes to the city centre, there are
plenty of others dotted around the city, check out a map here to see where the closest court is to you!
