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The JHF Basketball Showcase |
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On the request of the US coaches the JHF added basketball to the line up of events for the students to show their talents.
On invitation, a selected set of young talented male and female players were summoned from across the island to showcase their skills. Present were 16 boys and 12 girls, the majority og whom came from Kingston, a couple came from the western conference and one from the central conference.
The trials went fairly smoothly.The overseas coaches introduced themselves and explained their objectives for the camp. Under their watchful eyes, the girls then the boys were taken through their paces with general technical and tactical drills to demonstrate their individual skill level in dribbling, passing, shooting, 2 x1, 3 x 2, and 5x 5.
The coaches seem quite impress with the display of talent and in particular the passion with which the guys went at each other on the court. They singled out a few that could be eligible for a scholarship, among those that received a special mentioned were Sasha Dixon, Kwame Lawerence, Jovan Baily and Adrian Blake. |
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Basketball in Jamaica
The Jamaica Basketball Association (JBA) - previously JABA - has been in existence since the late 1960's, and league games have become an annual event since the 1970's. Recently there has been a surge in the popularity of basketball in Jamaica especially with the support of Jamaican born NBA player Patrick Ewing who holds an annual summer basket ball camp in Jamaica. This has led to the formulation of a league that is actively support and heavily contested by teams in Jamaica.
The female program, even though not as vibrant as the males’, has been doing relatively well. Several players have received scholarships to tertiary institutions mainly in the United States, while a few have played in the semi and professionally in leagues in the U.S. and Europe. Over the last 10 years, basketball has become the fastest growing sport on the island, and today ranks in the top five in terms of participation and popularity. The success of our program can be measure by the following:
- The game is played nationally in five different regions; each region controlled by a president who serves as a Vice President for the national body.
- Eighty-seven schools participate in the KFC sponsored National Basketball League (NBL), with teams in 3 categories, namely under 14, under 16 and under 19.
- There are over 100 teams in the Secondary/High School League (Division 2).
- The most advanced league is the National Basketball League (NBL) where 12 teams compete.
- In 1998 a national certification program for coaches was launched, since then over 200 hundred coaches have been certified.
- A mini program that caters to children under the age of 12 years was started in 2002 with 10 schools; today there are 40 schools participating (boys and girls combined).
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See below video clips showcaing some of the talent that was on show at the tournament
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