The NBA is bringing its resources and star power to Britain to spearhead an ambitious initiative to make basketball a mainstream sport ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
Vince Carter was on hand at a playground in south London on Wednesday to help launch the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA youth program that is meant to bring free basketball training to thousands of school students across the country.
The program is held in coordination with local community organizations, major soccer clubs and sponsors and will stage coaching opportunities and competitions for players aged 12-18 over the coming years.
PHOTO: AFP
“Our goal is simple, it’s about getting more people involved in sport,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, the vice president of NBA Europe. “Tens of thousands hopefully, maybe hundreds of thousands.”
It started with about 25 local aspiring players on Wednesday, who were put through some shooting drills with Carter at a park in Lambeth — the same London area where Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng grew up and learned to play.
“I could be out here all day,” Carter said. “It’s great to be able to come here and teach what you know, especially with young kids.”
Carter will return to London when his New Jersey Nets play the Miami Heat in a pre-season game at the O2 Arena on Oct. 12, the second year in a row that the NBA will stage a game in the British capital. The two teams will also play each other in Paris, while the New Orleans Hornets and the Washington Wizards are playing in Germany and Spain as the league continues its efforts to increase its profile in Europe.
“You can’t beat this, to play here and see what the die-hard fans are like,” Carter said. “They get to see it, smell it, touch it and enjoy it.”
The NBA youth program is part of Britain’s efforts to make basketball more popular in a country where most young athletes only dream about playing soccer, cricket or rugby.
“People are sports crazy over here,” Goldschmidt said. “But of course football and other sports have been dominant. When 2012 comes, there is going to be more of a focus on [basketball].”
While Britain is lagging far behind other European countries like Spain, Greece and Lithuania when it comes to hoops, it has still produced a superstar in Deng, who was in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to play in Britain’s European Championship qualifier against Israel. Deng is also the official ambassador for the youth program.
“Teaching basketball fundamentals in an organized environment will help secure the future of the game in England,” Deng said in a statement. “It is important to continue creating new opportunities for our young players to learn the game.”
And for the aspiring players in Lambeth, there is no doubt about who to look to for inspiration.
“Luol is that symbol of where you can go,” said 16-year-old Rohan Smith, who started playing basketball six years ago. “And we can do that, too.”
Smith said he was awed by playing with Carter and that he was taking the NBA star’s advise about getting an education to heart.
“When it comes from someone who has already made it, it makes it more listenable,” he said. “My dream is to play in the NBA, but playing for Britain in the Olympics would be just as big.”
And after seeing a sample of the country’s youth, Carter said he would not be surprised to see Britain competing in London in four years.
“There’s definitely hope for British basketball,” he said.
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