The best five cagers in the 15-19 age group will represent the country — of the 50 chosen from 16 countries that form part of the Asian Zone — in the NBA’s (National Basketball Association) ‘Basketball without Borders’ programme.

The NBA will be conducting three such camps this year — Moscow (June 4-7), New Delhi (July 3-6) and Johannesburg (Sept 3-7) with India becoming the second country from the region to be chosen to host it. China — Beijing and Shanghai — is the other nation from the region to host the programme since it was conceived in 2001.

In fact, the city that will host the Summer Games this August is only second to Shanghai which hosted the event twice.

Talking to mediapersons, Todd Jacobson, vice-president, community relations, NBA, said that they realised the potential of hosting such an event — fully funded by NBA — in the Capital and it would, apart from promoting the game, help in other spheres such as education and health. “Our initiative since 2001 has had the desired results and we hope the New Delhi event won’t be any different.”

During the four-day camp, the 50 boys from the region will be put through basketball drills and games with special attention given to skills. For this purpose, the NBA will have some of its current players and trained coaches to conduct the programme. “The idea of bringing in players will not only attract youngsters to the game but their presence with coaches will also arouse passion among them. Moreover, the players can perfectly fit into the role of mentors,” added Akash Jain, a Director with the NBA.

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