Basketball: Sport Singapore partners NBA for Jr NBA programme

SINGAPORE - The Jr National Basketball Association (NBA) will make its debut in Singapore next week and 15 participants will have the opportunity to embark on an unique overseas NBA experience - as part of the inaugural Jr NBA Singapore All-Stars - together with fellow Jr NBA All-Stars from South-east Asia later in the year.

A collaboration between the NBA and Sport Singapore announced on Wednesday (July 20), the Jr NBA, which complements programmes offered by the ActiveSG Basketball Academy, will kick off on July 27 with a coaches training session to develop local coaches involved in the programme. An open coaches workshop will be held at Pasir Ris Sport Hall on July 29, followed by an open clinic for boys and girls at Sengkang Sports Hall on July 30, and an open clinic at the Choa Chu Kang Sport Hall on July 31.

The regional training programme, comprised of six training sessions to determine the top 200 boys and girls ages 10 to 14 who will be chosen to participate in the national training camp following a series of skills and character assessments, will be conducted from August through September.

The national training camp, a three-day intensive training camp from Sept 9 to 11, will be attended by a current or former NBA player, feature NBA Cares community outreach, and culminate with the selection of 15 participants who will be named as the inaugural Jr NBA Singapore All-Stars.

Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin said: "The partnership with the NBA speaks to our commitment to developing high quality programmes for Singaporean youth to learn and grow through sport. The Jr. NBA programme gives us access to curriculum and methods for coaching and junior player development that will enable the ActiveSG Basketball Academy to develop an edge in nurturing basketball enthusiasts. We look forward to working with the NBA to hone our expertise, raise excitement in the basketball calendar, and add value to the Singapore basketball ecosystem."

The Jr NBA is currently being conducted across South-east Asia in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Participants are trained in the fundamentals of basketball and learn the importance of the Jr NBA's core values, including sportsmanship, teamwork, a positive attitude, and respect. To date, the programme has reached more than 1.5 million kids, parents and coaches across South-east Asia through camps, clinics, and NBA Cares community outreach activities, and aims to reach five million kids by 2020.

The programme is free and open to players between five and 14 years old. Players between the ages of 10-14 will be eligible for top selection during the regional training programme and national training camp.

Registration for the coaches workshop is now open through the ActiveSG website at www.myactivesg.com, while registration is available for the open clinics and regional training programme for boys and girls through www.jrnbasingapore.com. Fans can follow the programme on the official website at www.jrnba.asia/singapore and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbasingapore. For all things NBA, visit www.nba.com.

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