T&T youth basketballers and coaches will get the opportunity to develop and expand their love for the game through the Jr NBA Online Basketball Clinics.
The virtual basketball clinics, which will be conducted by the NBA, will include a development session for 75 youth basketball coaches on July 30 and a basketball clinic for more than 80 boys and girls ages 12-16 on August 19. Both clinics begin at 5.30 pm - 7 pm.
Each clinic will be led by members of the NBA’s International Basketball Operations department and feature a variety of instructional dribbling, shooting and defensive drills.
The highly qualified presenters include Canadian Dawn Smyth, the moderator, Senegal pair Baye Keita and Astou Ndiaye and Nico Loureiro of Argentina
Smyth is the current International Grassroots Basketball Lead for the NBA and a member of the FIBA America’s Youth Council.
“We are excited to provide youth players and coaches from across T&T with an opportunity to develop their game, exercise and engage with one another in a safe and healthy way,” said NBA Director, International Basketball Operations Smyth, who is a former women’s and men’s College coach and Director of Domestic Development and Manager of Coaching Education at Canada Basketball.
“We hope to provide a fun and informative development opportunity for aspiring players and coaches.”
Keita, the Jr NBA International Basketball Operations Liaison, is a former NCAA Division I player for Syracuse University. After graduating from Syracuse, Keita moved to play professionally in Denmark for HIC Horsens, where he won the "Defensive Player of the Year" award in his first year with a team, followed by a national title in his second year.
Ndiaye, who is in charge of Players Relations and Off-court Development at the NBA Academy Africa, is a 2003 WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock. She competed with the Detroit Shock from 1999-2003 and also played with the Indiana Fever (2004), Houston Comets (2006) and Seattle Storm (2007) in the WNBA.
During her professional career, the former NCAA Division I assistant coach, played in the American Basketball League (ABL) for the Seattle Reign (1997-1998) and as captain of Team Senegal, Ndiaye also played over a 15-plus years span in four FIBA World Championships and an Olympic tourney (2000).
Completing the elite group is Loureiro, the NBA Basketball Operations Liaison for Latin America. He is a former NBA Global Academy assistant coach. Loureiro has worked as an international youth coach with Jr NBA in India and China.
He also has professional coaching experience with teams from Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, China and Australia.
President of the National Basketball Federation of T&T (NBFTT) Claire Mitchell said, “T&T is honoured to have the constant attention of the Jr NBA to the extent that their esteemed coaches would design a programme, specially tailored to our coaches and our youth during this time of social distancing. Everyone is very excited!”
The coaches’ clinic on July 30 will provide participants with insights on coaching and player development techniques, while the youth clinic on August 19 will feature fundamental basketball drills and exercises.
Coaches and players will be required to sign and submit electronic waivers for participation. Registration began Friday for coaches. Registration information can be accessed on the OWQLO app: https://owqlo.com/
For information, call vice president Technical and Training Support Services of NBFTT Ishmael St Bryce at 778-8825 or email at stbrycei@yahoo.com or Stefan Dillon at 482-7040 or email at nbfttmktgcomm@gmail.com.