Author: MBONILE BURTON
AfricaPress-Tanzania: NINA Bennet is the only Tanzanian girl in the list of over 3 ,000 teens participating in the virtual Junior NBA Global Championship (JNGC) for this year.
Young basketball players from around the world compete each other in basketball, life skills and engage in discussions on social justice and other relevant topics, that according to organisers, it is not much different from the first two incarnations of the JNGC.
Bahati Mgunda, the Africa’s Girls Under-16 team coach at JNGC, said Bennet is a talented player who will offer something different. Mgunda, who is also the coordinator of Jr NBA at the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (JMK) Youth Park in Dar es Salaam, said it is good for the country to have a player in the global level event.
After Covid-19 shut down of sports in March, the NBA staff almost immediately began discussing how they could stage the global tournament that highlights the Jr NBA’s four core values of teamwork, respect, determination, and community.
In his statement, David Krichavsky, the NBA’s Head of Youth Basketball Development said they considered all scenarios, but they were determined to find a way to deliver an exciting event, while prioritising the health and safety of the Jr NBA community. “They are passionate about basketball and we know the Jr.
NBA Global Championship is an event they look forward to, so we pushed forward to deliver it in the best and safest way possible,” said Krichavsky. It took a massive effort that involved collaboration from departments across the NBA.
The tournament, which has Gatorade returning as a partner, runs through mid-August. It features top teams of 13 – and 14-year-old male and female players from eight U.S. regions (Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast and West) and eight international regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe & the Middle East, India, Latin America, and Mexico).
All told, dozens of countries will be represented. Mgunda added: “This is virtual JNGC battle that players compete online, every players need to have access of IPhone, will compete in a series of virtual basketball competitions using HomeCourt, a mobile basketball training app that uses advanced artificial intelligence to track key performance metrics
