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8th June 2018;- Veteran Basketball administrator former International Referee, Player and Technical committee Chairman of Basketball Federation of India GM Sampath Kumar breathed his last in Hyderabad at the age of 92.

He was in the helm of Basketball Association from 1955 onwards

His survived by his son John Peter and daughter Linda Joseph

He was preceded in death of his wife Dorcas Sampath Kumar and a daughter Ellen Vijay

Apart from the former chairman, technical commission, Basketball Federation of India who he served for 27 years; he also served as Vice President and member of Selection Committee and as general secretary of the AP Basketball Association later Telangana; and general secretary, Hyderabad District Association around 50 years.

He was also an international referee and an All-star player.

“You cannot imagine Nationals without Sampath Kumar before 5 years ”

He was a sense of awe and veneration that fills everyone in Basketball especially at the Secunderabad YMCA basketball court when descends on it.

In the united AP Olympic Association, Sampath held the post of vice president and member of the executive committee. His last post was as an executive committee member of Olympic Association of Telangana.

Apart from serving in basketball, Sampath was also in YMCA as Board of Director and Chairman of Secunderabad branch.

He was a Good Friend of Kerala Basketball Association, According to P J Sunny president of Kerala Basketball Association who was associated with him for a long-term in BFI lamented that A beautiful soul, full of love and faith, ascended to heaven, away from us, but closer to God, leaving loneliness and sadness. Words cannot describe what I am feeling. I give my condolences to the entire family.

According to YMCA in Secunderabad

He was active on the court till mid 80, at that age he is supremely sprightly for his age, both in mind and body. There is the nagging knee, a consequence of Chikungunya, yet when he is on the court, he is the man. Players, junior and senior, are all ears when he offers tips and advice. How else could it be when the name of the man talking to them is synonymous with basketball in AP/Now Telangana?

Sampath Kumar started playing ball at the Wesley High School. After that, he started playing at the YMCA Secunderabad. There is an interesting story about this. The team on the court were one player short when the coach Williams noticed Sampath Kumar sitting on a nearby wall. He enquired about him and learned that he was a very good player. Williams beckoned the youngster and asked him to join. Sampath Kumar replied that he had no membership and hence could not play. Williams immediately went to the office and paid the then membership fee of Rs.4 for Sampath Kumar and got him to play. This was more than 60 years ago.

For Sampath Kumar, the beautiful game is not football, but basketball. It never tires him; he forgets the ravages of age and tiredness when he talks about it; he looks you in the eye when he does and there is a twinkle you will not miss.

Perhaps it is this energy that young hoopsters love about the man. He cannot stand for long and give lessons because of his bad knee. But to the extent, it allows him he goes to the court and encourages, advises and corrects them. “A teacher should not just teach: he should demonstrate what he teaches,” says Sampath Kumar gravely.

“His approach to the game is so different,” says state player Moses. “On the court, he would be very strict. But off it, he is like a grandpa. He used to call me ‘lazy fellow’ for being slow on the court. But I never felt hurt; I only tried to better myself.”

There’s a long list of players, state-level, national, international, who owe it all to Sampath Kumar for their skill and success. “Sarabjit Singh, Surender Kumar, Surjan Singh and Gurdayal Singh… these are all my wards,” Sampath Kumar used to tell with pride. Sarabjit Singh is the first basketball player to get the Arjuna Award.

The International Players from Andhra includes Muhammed Rizwan, Umakanth, Harikrishna Prasad etc

In AP/Now Telangana he had groomed FIBA technical Delegate Normal Issac who now took his post as the Technical Commissioner of BFI and International referees Peter Santhosh Kumar, Prem Kumar, Anil Devanad raja reddy are some

remembering him from words about Indian Basketball, “When I was in the national team, once an American came down to coach us. One day we gathered around him and asked him about our progress. He said, ‘I wish I had got some pills back from the States that would make champions out of players.’ He was subtly saying that there is no substitute for hard work and constant practice.”

According to Sampath Kumar, the complete basketball player should have good height, good legs should be an excellent man-to-man marker and most importantly, he should be a fighter to the core. “You may be the best skilled among your teammates, you may be the tallest, you may be the fastest, but if you are no fighter, then all’s in vain,” he says and adds, “you must be a fighter; you must fight it out until the end; you must never give up.”