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Basketball without Borders comes to India

NEW DELHI: A bunch of officials from the National Basketball Association (NBA) had a fruitful visit of the Capital in pursuing their task of holding a special programme, Basketball without Borders, at the American Embassy School here from July 3 to 6.

It will be the first time such a camp is held in a country other than China in Asia. Beijing and Shanghai have hosted three such camps in all in the past.

“The event is part of the league’s global social responsibility with emphasis on social issues like education, youth and family development and health related issues,” said Akash Jain, Director, International Development of the NBA, in an informal chat with the media on Monday.

There will be five slots for India among the 50 players selected to attend the camp, with the rest coming from China, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Syria.

There will be two other such camps this year in Moscow, Russia from June 4 to 7 and in Johannesburg, South Africa, from September 3 to 7.

The boys attending the camp will be in the under-19 age group, and live together during the camp, participating in daily seminars that promote education, leadership, character, healthy living, apart from the game itself.

“The impact has been great. The programme serves as a springboard for the athletes to make it to their national teams,” said Todd Jacobson, vice president, Community Relations, of the NBA. — Special Correspondent

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