The National Basketball Association
(NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and Australia’s National
Basketball League (NBL) today announced that Basketball without Borders (BWB)
Asia will be held June 23-26 at Dandenong Basketball Stadium in Melbourne,
marking the first time that the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development
and community outreach program will be held in Australia. BWBwill celebrate its
15th anniversary this summer.
BWB Asia will bring together the top male
players born in 1999 from around the Asia-Pacific region to learn directly from
NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and to compete against the best young
players from the region. BWB Asia will
also include a girls camp for the top female players in Victoria and a Jr. NBA
camp for local youth.
“We
are pleased to partner with FIBA and the NBL to bring the first Basketball
without Borders camp to Australia,” said NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy.
“The league has seen a surge of Australian talent in recent years, and we look
forward to supporting the next generation by giving them a platform to showcase
their skills alongside their peers from throughout the region.”
“This
historic, first-ever NBA and FIBA Basketball without Borders Asia Camp in
Australia presents an incomparable opportunity for players from many countries
throughout Asia and Oceania,” said Camp Director and President of the World
Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC) Patrick Hunt. “The players and coaches will work with the
campers to enhance their skills, shape their character, and teach values that
lead to success in life and our wonderful, global game.”
“Victorians
love their basketball, and we’ve produced some of the world’s great stars,”
said Victorian Government for Sport, Tourism and Major Events John Eren MP. “Australian NBA and national team players
made their names in our local associations, and this is another great chance to
uncover another star of the game. But
it’s not just about identifying talent.
Basketball without Borders is a great chance to teach our kids important
values and lessons that will stay with them for life.”
“This
camp will showcase the best young basketball talent Australasia has to offer in
front of some of the world’s best players and coaches from the NBA, and FIBA, along with a very
impressive selection of our own NBL coaches and players, past and present, many
of whom played in the NBAthemselves,” said NBL General Manager Jeremy
Loeliger. “It is a great opportunity to
place Australian basketball and the NBL on the map internationally as the
premier basketball destination in Australasia, and we are excited to see this
event come to fruition thanks to the support of the NBA, FIBA, the Victorian
Government, Basketball Victoria and Basketball Australia.”
In addition to working with the campers
on the court, NBA, FIBA and NBL players and coaches will lead extensive
community outreach events through NBA Cares that will leave a lasting legacy in
Melbourne and Geelong. These social responsibility efforts will focus on
youth basketball development and teaching the values of the game on and off the
court. Activities will include a Jr. NBA youth basketball clinic, an NBA
Cares court dedication, a Jr. NBA wheelchair basketball exhibition game and
clinic and life skills sessions stressing the importance of leadership,
character and communication.
Nike, a BWB global partner since 2002,
will outfit the campers and coaches with Nike apparel and footwear.
Since 2001, BWB
has reached more than 2,500 participants from 130 countries and territories,
with 37 campers drafted into the NBA.
Twenty-one former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the
2015-16 NBA season.
The first-ever Basketball without
Borders camp took place in Europe in July 2001.
Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former
teammates from the Yugoslav national team, reunited to work with 50 children
from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso,
Italy. Since then, the NBA and FIBA have
staged 45 BWB camps in 26 cities across 22 countries on five continents. More than 210 current and former NBA, WNBA
and FIBA players have joined nearly 160 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA
teams to support BWB across the world.
The full BWB 2016 summer schedule will
be announced in the coming months. Campers
and coaches will be announced prior to each camp.
About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media
business built around three professional sports leagues: the National
Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the
NBA Development League. The league has established a major international
presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49
languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries
on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured
100 international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA
Digital’s assets include NBA.com and the NBA app, which achieved record traffic
during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV. The NBA has created one of
the largest social media communities in the world, with more than one billion
likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player
platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social
issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations
that support education, youth and family development, and health-related
causes.
About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.com) - the world
governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 215
National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the
sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC).
For further information about FIBA,
visit fiba.com or follow FIBA
on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.
About the NBL
The National Basketball League in
Australasia is one of the of the premier basketball leagues in the world.
Established in 1978 the League now has eight teams based in cities across the
country - Adelaide 36ers, Cairns Taipans, Melbourne United, New Zealand
Breakers, Perth Wildcats, Sydney Kings, Brisbane Bullets and
Illawarra Hawks. Some of the NBL’s greatest players include former NBA
player and five-time Olympian Andrew Gaze, 21-season scoring-machine Leroy
Loggins, five-time championship-winner Larry Sengstock, and 500-game veterans
Ray Borner and James Crawford. From humble beginnings the NBL now sells out
stadiums with more than 650,000 attending games each season and live TV coverage
nationally. The NBL has NBL.com.au, and a live streaming NBL APP.
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