NBA partners with Sport Singapore to bring Jr NBA to Singapore Youth for the first time

NBA partners with Sport Singapore to bring Jr NBA to Singapore Youth for the first time

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sport Singapore today announced a partnership to bring the Jr. NBA to Singapore for the first time. The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. Jr. NBA Singapore 2016 will tip off 27 July at Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall and run through September.

The Jr. NBA is currently being conducted across Southeast 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 Southeast Asia through camps, clinics, and NBA Cares community outreach activities, and aims to reach five million kids by 2020.

“The partnership with the NBA speaks to our commitment to developing high quality programmes for Singaporean youth to learn and grow through sport,” said Sport Singapore Chief Executive Officer Lim Teck Yin. “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.”

“We are excited to partner with Sport Singapore to get kids active and healthy through basketball,” said NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy. “The Jr. NBA programme continues to expand throughout Southeast Asia, and the growth of our program allows us to get basketballs in the hands of millions of boys and girls across the region. Thanks to the support of Sport Singapore, we’ll speak directly to kids, parents, and educators in Singapore about health and fitness while improving the level of local basketball.”

The Jr. NBA complements the programme offerings provided by the recently launched ActiveSG Basketball Academy to encourage participation, raise the quality of coaching and programmes, and nurture a calendar of leagues and competitions for all skill levels to make the sport more accessible to the community. The ActiveSG Basketball Academy encompasses a deliberately carved pathway for children to develop their talent and nurture their passion for the sport and is led by former national team head coach Neo Beng Siang, offering opportunities for the community to learn and play at a recreational level.

Jr. NBA Singapore begins 27 July at Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall 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 29 July, followed by an open clinic for boys and girls at Sengkang Sports Hall on 30 July, and an open clinic at the Choa Chu Kang Sport Hall on 31 July. 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 9-11 September, 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. These standout campers will embark on a unique overseas NBA experience together with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia later in the year.

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 ActiveSG, while registration is available for the open clinics and regional training programme for boys and girls through the Jr. NBA website.