News

Nimmy George of St Josephs college Irinjalakuda who was brought up from the cradle of Little Flower HSS Koratty and Mr. Rahul Mehla (Punjab) will be the Indian Representation at the FIBA first ever Asian Youth Camp for 3×3 Basketball at the Gharafa Training Hall, Doha, Qatar from September 5-18, 2015 organised by the Olympic Council of Asia will be supported by Qatar Olympic Committee and Qatar Basketball Federation Coach Srinivas Murthy from Bangalore will also be with them to attend the camp for Coaches in Qatar.

This training camp which is designed for players aged 15 to 17. In addition to the players’ camp, a coaches’ camp has also been organized in cooperation with the Qatar Olympic Academy. Basketball Federation of India has selected these by the Invitation from Olympic Council of Asia. OCA and Qatar NOC have provided economy class airfare and accommodation for one coach, one male and one female athlete. Apart from Indian players 19 other countries including Turkmenistan, Laos, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Thailand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Kuwait, Yemen, Nepal, Iran, Cambodia, Bhutan, Maldives, Indonesia and Qatar have taking part in this Youth Camp.

Defending Champions Sacred Heart Thevara in boys while St Gorethios ,Thiruvanthapuram won the Boys and Girls Title of the 4th AKM Trophy Interschool Basketball Tournament here at AKM Public School Changanacherry, In Mini Division AK M School AKM School had a mixed fortune as their Micro C Division Bots took the title defeating Jyothi nikthan School Alapuzha42-22 while the Sub Junior boys went down to experienced Shanathaljyothi School from Todupuza with the score 29-37

In an evenly fought the Boys division final Sacred heart defeated host AKM Changancherry with the score 61-53 with Paul top scoring for the winners with 28 points and for AKM captain Althaf Salim made 24 points

In the Girls Final riding on with State Star Sreekala R who came as the top scorer of the team with 16 points defeated Jyothinikethan School Alapuzha 43-21 helping St Gorethios from Thiruvanthapuram a maiden title in the All Kerala Basketball School Circuit

Earlier in Boys Semi finals SH Thevara Scrape past Silver Hill HSS from Kozhikode 67-65 beat while host AKM School beat Jyothinikethan School Alalpuzha 46-26

In Girls Semi Finals matches St Gorethios beat St Josephs GHS Alapuz39-18 while Jyothinikethan got better of Shanthal jyothi Muttam 40-29

Detailed Scores Finals

Boys

• sacred Hear Public School Thevara -61(Paul28,Shaun Louis19) bt AKM School Changacherry-53)Althaf Salim24,Bobben Shenoy13,Anson Varghese10)

Girls

• St Gorethios Thiruvanthapuram-43(SreekalaR16) by Jyothi Nikethan School Alapuzha-21

Semi finals

Boys

• Sacred Heart Public School Thevara -67(,Shaun Louis37, Paul 12) bt Silver Hill HSS Kozhikode-65(Abhshek Jaison21,Rohit21,Ankit15)
• AKM School Changancherry-46(Anson Varghese18.Althaf SAlim13,Bobben Binoy10) bt (Jyothinikethan Alapuzha-26(Varun10)

Girls

• Jyothi Nikethan School Alapuzha-40 (Anamika Sanal14) bt ShanthaljyothiMuttam-29(Olivikka Shabu29)
• St Gorethios Thiruvanthapuram-39(Anupama-15,SreekalaR14) bt St Josephs Alapuzha-18(Jayalakshmi10).

Calicut University make a history after a long 16 year they enter the Semifinal of the south zone inter university basketball tournament here at SRM University in Chennai along with Jain University Bangalore, SRM Chennai and Hindusthan University Madras

In the qualifying matches Jain defeated defeated Kerala Univeristy, ?calicut beat last year champion Madras university score 64-39 top scores ,Riya 26,Elisabeth Hilarious 16,vimmy varkey 12, M.G. Uty lost to Hindhustan Uty in Quarter finals Score. 47-64 while Host SRM also quailed ?to make the final four qualifiers

For the first time since 2003, India has progressed to the quarterfinals of the 28th FIBA Asia Championship for Men that is underway in Changsha, China. This will provide solace to the team, which lost to a hot Philippines side, 99-65, earlier this afternoon. In form Philippines came into this game on the back of four straight victories which included a first ever win against Asian giant Iran yesterday.

Despite the loss, India qualified for the knockout stage based on its two wins in the last three games, the biggest over Palestine on Sunday morning. While both teams finished with the same Group record of 2-3, India won their only head-to-head match up and will move on to face the Pool F topper, who will be determined by the winner of the China-Qatar matchup later in the evening.

India which had a good start to this game, leading after the first quarter, 17-16, before the Filipinos got their bearings and proceeded to take over. The Indians, winners of their previous two games, leaned on the troika of Vishesh Bhrguvanshi, Amjyot Singh, and Amrit Pal Singh, who combined to score 50 points. India’s bench wasn’t able to step up here, scoring just 3 points.

Turning Point: India was still within striking distance at the 8:24 mark of the fourth period, 66-58, but that was when the Philippines shifted into high gear and opened things up. Coach Baldwin’s squad unloaded a 29-2 blast in the next six minutes that deflated India and put the outcome beyond doubt.

Stats Don’t Lie: Fluid offense and tenacious defense were the Filipinos’ calling cards in this encounter. Gilas Pilipinas assisted on 21 of their 41 field goals and forced 22 Indian turnovers, which were converted into 26 points-off-turnovers.

Commenting on the achievement, veteran forward Yadwinder Singh said, “We are ecstatic to have qualified and all the players have put in a lot of effort. Compared to teams in the past, the key difference has been the improved showing of our big men Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh.” Both Amjyot and Amritpal are professionals in the Japanese developmental league, and their exposure abroad is showing immediate divided.

Captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led the team with 21 points, including 5-10 outside shooting, while Amritpal Singh matched former-NBA player Andre Blatche blow for blow with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Star Amjyot Singh had an off-night with 11 points and 5 rebounds.

?Sebastian PJ from Kerala was the Asst Coach for this team.

St Berchmens college Changancherry won the men’s title defeating St. Joseph’s-College of Engineering 69-63 here for the Sree Raghavendra Trophy all-India inter-collegiate basketball tournament organised by St. Joseph’s Group of Institutions here ay t the Sree Raghavendra Basketball Club’s court in T.Nagar

In women division Providence College Kozhikode from Kerala who entered the final four has to satisfy withthe 3rd Place as they lost to MOP Vaishnav College Chennai on the Final day with the score 50-57 , SRM University (Kattamkulathur) finished second and St. Joseph’s Engineering (Chennai) finished with Fourth Place in the Final Four Team League matches.

The results Men:

Final

• SB College, Changanassery 69( (Robin 21,Sidharth19) bt St. Joseph’s College of Engineering 63 (Dojo 22,Nirmal12)

Semi Final

• SB College, Changanassery 55 (Robin 13) bt St. Joseph’s Institute of Technology 34 (Sangameswaran 12);
• St. Joseph’s College of Engineering 69 (Dojo 22) bt D.G. Vaishnav 44 (Akash 17).

The results Women:

Final round league

• MOP 57 (Divya21) bt Providence College Kozhikode-50(Oshee naveendran19,Rgea Rajendran15).
• MOP 64 (Prithi 14, Srividya 14) bt SRM University 45 (Jayasruthi 19).
• Providence WC, Kozhikode 62 (Elizabeth 15) bt St. Joseph’s College of Engineering 29 (Yamini 11).
• SRM University – 54 (Sathya 22, Baritha 17) beat Providence WC – 51 (Oshen 14, Adulya 12, Rhea 10).

Abhishek Naional Referee and a FIBA level 1 Coach from Thiruvanthapuram went missing at Kovalam beach near here on Saturday along with Four others one body was recovered on Sunday. The body of Anoop Giri (21), a native of Varkala near here and a hotel management student in Bengaluru, was recovered in the early hours of Sunday. Joint search operations by the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Enforcement and coastal police were on, till Monday ,There is still no information regarding the other four including Abhishek

The five youngsters went for a swim when the sea was rough. They were initially asked to keep off the sea by lifeguards on the beach but they went ahead with the plan. Two of the youngsters were hit by high waves and the other three, while attempting to rescue them, were also carried off by the waves according to the preliminary reports Abhishek also was an victim who went to save others

Abhishek started his basketball carrier under Mrs Sam Joseph (Brijener Kaur ) at Vettukad came to represent Thriuvanthapuram District team in Youth Level before turning in to an coach and a referee. He also coached several District teams of Thiruvanthapurm District and Now coaching at Carmel School and also at Vellayani Poonkulm Engineering college, for the past few week he was also Training the Madras Regiment Team at Pangode Military camp in Thiruvanthapuram

He also was one of the best upcoming BFI A Referees from the State and officiated some of the Best matches in the recently concluded National Games championship held at Kannur. Incidentally on Saturday morning Doordharshan has re telecasted one the match he officiated Punjab Vs Haryana . He has done his FIBA Level 1 certificate Course at Kochi last December under FIBA Instructor Nelson Isley from USA and came as the topper from the 29 who attended from different states.

Jeevan Raj Sebastian the Physical Education teacher from CMI Public School Thevara chosen as the Best Physical education Teacher by the NBA from the 150 Schools that took part in the Jr NBA Programme Inspire Youth to Play Basketball of 2014 in Kerala Left to Soutth Africa to participate in the NBA s 13th S Edition of Basketball Without Borders ; an Basketball Development camp by NBA to be held at Johannesburg South Africa from July 26th to August 1st 2015. He will Join the other 5 chosen from other 5 cities and will together travel to South Africa to attend the Programme . . He was the first lucky Physical Education Teacher from Kerala to witness the First NBA Exhibition Game which will be Staging along with this AFRICAN programme of NBA which will have Luol Deng and Chris Paul

About Basketball without Borders Programee

Basketball without Borders (BWB) is the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health, and wellness.

The top youth players 19 and under from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa, as selected by the NBA, FIBA and participating federations, will train under NBA players and coaches and compete against their peers. NBA players will partner with local community groups to lead daily life-skills sessions focusing on the importance of education, leadership, character development, health and wellness. To promote friendship and diversity, the campers are divided into teams without regard to race and nationality.

The program has also reached countless others through its community relations outreach efforts in each region. Efforts usually culminate with an NBA Cares Legacy Project, which includes the creation of safe places where kids and families can live, learn or play. As part of Basketball without Borders, the NBA has created and dedicated 50 of these safe places outside the United States and Canada.

Since its inaugural year in 2001, the NBA and FIBA have staged 41 BWB camps in 23 cities in 20 countries on five continents. BWB has had more than 2,300 participants from more than 120 countries and territories. More than 150 different current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined nearly 140 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams with 33 BWB campers drafted into the NBA.

The NBA will stage an exhibition game on 1st August in South Africa

Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum made the announcement in Johannesburg, where the NBA is holding a Basketball without Borders camp. He said all proceeds will go to charity and that becoming the first U.S. professional league to play a game on the continent is “just an evolution of our commitment to continuing to bring basketball to the continent of Africa.”

Reports From NBA Africa

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced today the full rosters for the first NBA game in Africa, which will take place August 1 at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The sold-out NBA Africa Game 2015 will feature a Team Africa v Team World format and will be played in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The game will air live in the US on ESPN at 9:00 a.m. ET and in Africa on SuperSport at 3:00 p.m. CAT.
Team Africa, comprised of players born in Africa and second-generation African players, will feature team captain and two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng (Miami Heat; Great Britain; born in South Sudan), Al-Farouq Aminu (Portland Trail Blazers; US; parents from Nigeria), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; parents from Nigeria), Nicolas Batum (Charlotte Hornets; France; parent from Cameroon), Bismack Biyombo (Toronto Raptors; Democratic Republic of the Congo), Boris Diaw (San Antonio Spurs; France; parent from Senegal), Gorgui Dieng (Minnesota Timberwolves; Senegal), Festus Ezeli (Golden State Warriors; Nigeria), Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder; Congo)*, and Luc Mbah a Moute (Sacramento Kings; Cameroon).

Team World, comprised of players from the rest of the world, will feature team captain, NBPA President and eight-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers; US), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards; US), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets; US), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies; Spain), Pau Gasol (Chicago Bulls; Spain), Jeff Green (Memphis Grizzlies; US), Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics; US), Evan Turner (Boston Celtics; US) and Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic; Montenegro).

Five-time NBA Champion Gregg Popovich will coach Team Africa, with 2014-15 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams serving as assistant coaches. Brooklyn Nets General Manager Billy King and Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri are the Team Africa general managers, with Eric Waters (Washington Wizards) serving as the team’s athletic trainer.

Brooklyn Nets Coach Lionel Hollins will coach Team World, with Boston Celtics Coach Brad Stevens serving as assistant coach. San Antonio Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford is the Team World general manager, while Keon Weise (Orlando Magic) will be the team’s athletic trainer.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will attend the game along with NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and NBA Africa Ambassador Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).

The game will take place following the 13th edition of Basketball without Borders (BWB) Africa, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program that has reached 1 000 campers from 31 African countries since 2003.

As part of BWB and NBA Africa Game efforts, NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility program, and the NBPA Foundation will host a series of events to leave a lasting legacy in the community. With support from Ford, local youth will participate in a Jr. NBA clinic on Wednesday, July 29 at the American International School of Johannesburg. Also at the school, Hoops 4 Hope will conduct life skills sessions presented by South African Airways. NBA players, coaches and legends will hold sessions on leadership and health and wellness for BWB campers throughout the week.

Members of the NBA family will gather at the newly built Boys & Girls Club at Protea Glen on Thursday, July 30 for a basketball court dedication and clinic presented by NIKE.

NBA Africa Game 2015 partners also include Econet Global Limited, the Official Mobile and Telecommunications Partner of NBA Africa Game, and 947.

Friday, July 31 will mark the third consecutive year that NBA players will visit SOS Children’s Village Ennerdale, an organisation that builds families for orphaned and abandoned children. NBA Cares and the NBPA Foundation have undertaken their largest commitment to the village to date, working on a range of projects from the refurbishment of the local library to the construction of a new basketball court.

The NBA has a long history in Africa with more than 35 players from the continent featured on NBA rosters since Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted in 1984. The NBA opened an office in Johannesburg in 2010.

Basil Philip from Customs and Central Excise Kochi will lead the India 3×3 Basketball team for FIBA 3×3 World Tour SABA Qualifier 2015 to be held at Colombo ,Sri Lanka on 1st and 2nd August 2015 along with Rajesh Uppar (Karnataka) Siddarth Shinde (Maharashtra)and P.Jeevanthan from Tamil Nadu. The winner of the championships will qualify for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour which will be held in Beijing on August 15 and 16.

The team left for Sri-lanka after a 12 days coaching camp at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore Karnataka

The NBA Africa Game will take place at the Ellis Park Arena on today the 1st August Saturday, will be about inspiring a new generation of African basketball players according to NBA player Kenneth Faried. The NBA’s first exhibition game in Africa was brought as part of the Basketball without Borders which will be culminating with thisMatch.

Tickets for the contest between an Africa All Stars team (players born in Africa) and a World team, consisting of NBA players will do battle in an exhibition match at the 60 000-seater venue were quickly sold-out. The game will feature Team Africa (Luol Deng, Bismack Biyombo, Giannis Antetokounompo, Serge Ibaka, Festus Ezeli and Dieng among others) vs. Team World (Chris Paul, Marc and Pau Gasol, Bradley Beal, Jeff Green, Nikola Vucevic, Boris and Trey Burke among

The next Yao Ming from China or the first true star from India is on the NBA’s wish list without question as the league makes inroads in those countries. The league increased its effort this season bringing several high-profile NBA players and coaches to Johannesburg, South Africa for three days of basketball and life instruction for nearly 60 of Africa best players born in 1998.

NBA India’s grassroots program Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme also selected six Indian coaches, to be a part of it which includes Jeevan Raj Sebastian the Physical Education Teacher from CMI Public School in Thevara along with Mal Singh from Guru Harkishan Das Public School , Ludhiana, Varun Ahlawat from Delhi Public School, Vasundhara, Anahita Gupta from Modern School for Girls, Kolkata, Digambar Mali from Fr. Agnels School, Vashi, Mumbai and Udhayakumar from Lady Andal Venkatasubbarao High School, Chennai with Carlos Barroca Senior Director NBA operation in India are for the past week in Johannesburg at the American International School for this unique developmental effort of the 13th edition of Basketball without Borders (BWB) programme in South Africa .Their selection was made on the basis of number of students they engaged, the number of basketball led classes they conducted and their overall involvement with the program.Here, the coaches got thier opportunity to learn and enhance their basketball training skills with the best coaches/trainers from around the world. according to Carlos“The teachers did a great job in India and are here at BWB Africa to continue to learn and enhance their basketball training skills with the best coaches/trainers from around the world. They will also view the NBA Africa Game – which will also be a once in a lifetime experience for them.” They Spent last Sunday their first day visiting the JR NBA Programme in Bafokeng and Interact with the participants over there and on Monday they spent their time visiting the Museum of Apartheid and Nelson Mandela’s Foundation before joining the Development camp of NBA which was taken by the current NBA coaches and Players indeed an rare one anybody could get.

According to NBA they feel the global exposure provided by NBA will be great for the local development of basketball in the Country.

Close on the heels of their opening loss to Korea yesterday, India fell to another higher ranked Level 1 team Japan on Day two of the 4th FIBA Asia U-16 Championship for Women that is underway in Medan, Indonesia.

Rutuja Pawar again top scored for India with 12 points. Japan fully utilised its deep bench with 11 out of 12 players on the court for a minimum of 10 minutes. India (ranked 39th in the world) did well in the first quarter to stay within single digits of Japan (ranked 9), but it was only a matter of time before Japan clamped down on the defensive end to restrict India’s scoring. Their defense in turn led to easy offense with seven Japanese players scoring in double digits.

India will eet the defending champion China tomorrow at 3:30 pm IST, before going up against lower ranked Thailand, followed by Chinese Taipei.

Japan (Rina Kajiwara 16, Itsuki Hashiguchi 16, Mako Fujimoto 15, Haruki Takahara 14 pts & 10 rbs) bt India (Rutuja Pawar 12) 113-39 [24-15, 27-10, 25-7, 37-7]

Kottayam District Collector Sr U V Jose IAS inaugurated the 13thedition of the Lourdean Basketball Tournament for Boys and Girls here at the Lourde Flood Lit Stadium in Kottayam. 16 teams in Boys and 12 teams in Girls are taking part inthis 4 day tournament . Tournament started with a tribute to Dr APJ Abdulkalam
In the Inaugural match Lourdes Public School Kottayam defeated Sacred Heart HSS Changancherry 65-39 with Pranav Suny making 15 points for the winners followed byJacob Anil and Allan francis scoring14 points each
Earlier in the morning qualifying Matches to the League Round Sacred Heart HSS Thevara defeated Christ Central School Thiruvalla 50-37 while St Anns HSS Kurianad beat while Lourde B 33-16, Mar baselios mannanam defeated LPS 10-5 team got better of Excelxior School Kottaym 18-8 and Don Bosco HSS irinjalakuda beat AKM School Changancherry 37-10

Groupings

Boys

• Group A-St ephremes Mannnanm,St Thomas Kozhencherry,Mar Baselios Maganan.
• Group B- St Josephs HSS Pulicunnu,ShanthalJyothi Muttam,Sacred Heart HSS Thevara.
• Group C- Girideepam Kottayam, Don Bosco irinjalakuda,Little Flower HSS Koratty.
• Group D –Lourdes Kottayam, Sacred Heart HSS Changancherry,St Anns Kurianad.

Girls

• Group A -Little Flower HSS Koratty,Mount Carmel Kottayam,Lourdes Kottayam.
• Group B-GVHSS Kannur,St Gorathy Trivandrum,Presentation Kozhikode.
• Group C-Providence Kozhikode,Girideepam Kottayam,ShanthalJyothi Muttam.
• Group d-GGHSS Thallassery,St Josephs Alapuzha, jyothinikethan Alapuzha.

League round

Boys

• Lourde Public School Kottayam-65(Pranav Sunny15,Allan Francis14, Jacob Anil14) bt Sacrd Heart HSS Changancherry-39(Chacko Sebastian21).

Girls

• Mount Carmel HSS Kottayam-37(Fathima Sumeera10,Ann Maria Zacharia10) bt Lourdes Public School-8.

Qualifying round Matches Morning

Boys

• Sacred Heart HSS Thevara-50(Sharan Francis20,Vivek Joseph10, John S Chungath8) bt Christ Central School Thiruvalla-37(Thomas Joji14Sanjays10).
• St Anns HSS Kurianad-33(NithinTom10) bt Loudes B Team-16.
• Don Bosco HS irinjalakuda-37(Shamil Shamsudeen10) bt AKM SS Changancherry-10.

Host Lourde Public School entered the quarter finals as they beat St Anns Kurianad 57-12 to top the group A here for the 13th edition of the Lourdean Basketball Tournament for Boys and Girls here at the Lourde Flood Lit Stadium in Kottayam. In boys section defending champions St Ephremnes Mannanam , St Thomas HSS Kozhencherry and Sacred Heart HSS Changancherry have also confirmed the Quarterf inl Berth . while in Girls division all quarter finalist were confirmed as as from group A Little Flower HSS Koratty and Mount Carmel Kottayam and from B GVHSS Kannur and Presentation Kozhikode from C Providence Kozhikode and Girideepam Kottayam and from D GGHSS Thallasserry and St Josephs Alapuzha

In the league matches today Don Bosco irinjalkuda under new coach Rajan David defeated Little Flower HSs Koratty 58-47 ,St Thomas Kozhencherry drubbed Mar Baselios Maganam34-3,Shanthal Jyothi defeated Sacred Heart TRhevara 52-43, St Ephremes beat Marbaselios 39-25, S H Changancherry beat St Anns Kurianad 77-55 and Girideepam lost to Little flower Koratty 22-49

In Girls league Matches GGHSS Thallassery beatJyothinikethan Alapuzha 29-22,Presentation GHS Kozhikode beat St5 Gorothios Thiruvanthapuram 41-26,Newly formed Girideepam Bethany Girls beat Shanthal Jyothi Muttam 37-19,and Little Flower Koratty beat Mount Carmel Kottayam 49-19

Detailed Scores League round

Boys

• Lourde Public School Kottayam-57(Jacob Anil25,Thomas Sebastian10) bt St Anns Kurianad-12
• Little Flower HSs Koratty-49(Indian Nelson13,Gokul BAbu10,Anto Prince 100 bt Girideepma Bethany Kottayam-22
• SH Hss Chnagancherry-77(Chacko Sebastian37,Antonty V Mathai26) bt St Anns Kurianad-55(Abhijith Sasidharan25,Nithin19)
• St Josephs HSs Pulicunnu-89(Abhnandu 28,Feby Joseph14,Harkrishnan13)bt Shanthal Jyothi Mutttam-81(Aswin Binu33,Akhil P Murali 16,Joseph Joshy13)
• St Thomas HSs Kozhencherry-34(Sejin Mathew11) bt Mar Baselios Maganam-3
• Don Bosco HSS Irinjalakuda-58(Joseph Stenny15,Alan P Paul14,Shamil Shamsudeen14) bt Little Flower HSs Koratty-47(GokulN Babu15,Anto Prince120
• Shanthal Jyothi Mutttam-52(Akhil P Murali 28),bt SH Thevara-43(Shraun Frazlin28)

Girls

• Little Flower HSs Koratty-49(Festy P Jose14,Sneha Sebastian11) bt M ount Carmel HSS Kottayam-19
• St Josephs GHS Alapuzha-42(Jayalakshmi11,neethu10) bt Jyothi Nikethan-33(Anamika10)
• GVHSS Kannur-39(Aiswarya Sabu14) bt St Gorothi 9
• Girideepam Bethany-37(Silvia10,Christy10) bt Shanthal Jyothi 19
• Presentation Kozhikode-41(Archana Vijayan-12,Akhila Mohan10) bt St Gorthy TVM-26(Sranya Ag12)
• GGHSS Thallasserry-29(Nivya Scatria16) bt Jyothi Nikethan Alapuzha-22-

Despite is a word the country’s national basketball teams have become infinitely familiar with. Despite not having their best players and coach, the men’s team impressed by winning the South Asian Basketball Championship title and advanced to the Asian Basketball Championship. Now, it’s the turn for our women who were training at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium for the past two weeks in preparation for the 26th FIBAia Championship for Senior women at Wuhan ion China from 29th August to 2nd September 2015 .

Unlike men who missed Scott Flemming who has left the Country, women are lucky to have Francisco Garcia from spain to be back again to coach the team , He is the man who led the women’s team to a fifth and the best ever finish in the ABC 2013, He who have to put up a good show despite everything that’s going on around them .

The 22 member team practicing at Bangalore have the major Participation of Malyalles to have 10 members of malayalles which include , Jeena PS, Stephy Nixon, Anjanaa PG (all from the Kerala State Electricity Board ) Poojamol KS,(Assumption College) Athira m from Kerala Police Smruthi Radhakrishnan ( southern railway in Thiruvanthapuram )Sruthi Menon ( Western Railway)and Jilna Jose ( South central railway Secunderabad) CL Rini from PSG Coimbatore and Apoorva Muralinath ( Southern railway Chennai ) whose mother hails from Kerala . Our men team training for the Senior Asian championship also have two malyalees Basil Philip from central Excise Kochi and Murallekrishna from ONGC Utharkhand also the team is trained by Sebastian P J from the Kerala State Sports Council at mangalore.

According to Franciss Garcia “We have a team this time that will miss arjuna Awardee Geethu Anna Rahul (Anna Jose), our main player in India in fact we don’t have a real substitute for her till now . We are also missing Raspreet Sidhu who could not join the team due to job problems,” and also singh sisters . The coach is trying with certain limitations is trying hard to bring whatever best he can do with the team while all other teams are practicing for more than 3 months or an year our team is here hardly get five weeks before going into a tournament which is not ideal.

“We would have liked some international exposure,” said Garcia.. but “With the infighting in the national federation going on stronger and stronger and without financial support either from Govt nor from IMG Reliance it hasn’t been easy to arrange any foreign exposure trips they need against women from other countries before the championship . Instead, the team will play against men now. ?We have to make do with what we have.

“We want to play friendlier matches against men mainly because the opponents we will face in Wuhan are physically strong and quick. Here only the men can offer us that level of competition,” the coach added another majour problem with the women here is the lack of fitness which we have missing this time with the absence of strength and conditioning coach Tommy Heffelfinger, who played a vital role in keeping the women fit for major tournaments.

But the coach is confident of an impressive finish at the ABC. “Our goal obviously is to stay in Level I. We need to beat Thailand which is ranked one down than us because beating China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei is not an easy task as they are from another basketball galaxy.

Host Lourde Public School along with Little flower HSS Koratty,St ehremes Mannanam and Don Bosco Irinjalakuda in Boys while in Gilrs Little flower Koratty, St Josephs Alapuzha confirmed the Semi Finals here for the 13th edition of the Lourdean Basketball Tournament for Boys and Girls here at the Lourde Flood Lit Stadium in Kottayam.

In boys quarter final match Little Flower HSS koratty proved that they are also equal to their Girls counterpart as stunned the one of the favorites St Josephs HSS Pulicunnu 76-68 while defending champions St Ephremes Mannanam beat Sacred Heart Changancherry 51-27 then beat Shanthaljyothi HSS Muttam beat Don Bosco HSS Irinjalakuda 76-69 Host Lourde Public School defeated St Thomas HSS Kozhencherry 57-50 and. while in Girls division Little Flower HSS Koratty had an easy run over GGHSS (SAI team) Thallassery (45-19) and Mount Carmel Kottayam had to surrender to St Josephs GHS Alapuzha 52-53 and GVHSS Kannur defeated Providence GHS Kozhikode 61-50 to Make the Semi Final

Detailed Scores Quarter Finals

Boys

• Lourde Public School Kottayam-57(Prnav Sunny 32) bt St Thomas HSS Kozhencherry-50(Yedhu Arckal21,Subin Jacob11)
• Little Flower HSS Koratty-76(Indian Nelson 23,Gineeb Benny21,Gokul BAbu15) bt St Josephs HSS Pulicunnu – 68(Harikrishnan27,Sachin A Soman11)
• St Ephremes HSS Mannanam-51(Shibil Varghese 10) bt H HSS Chnagancherry-27(Chacko Sebastian10)
• Shanthal Jyothi Mutttam-76(Akhil P Murali 32,Aswin Binu21) bt Don Bosco HSS Irinjalakuda-69(Sricharan KC20,Shamil Shamsudeen15)

Girls

• Little Flower HSS Koratty-49(Aparna Sadasivan10) bt GGHSS Thallasserry-19(Niya Scatria10)
• St Josephs GHS Alapuzha-53(Amala Jose21,Neethu 13,Jayalakshmi12) Mount Carmel HSS Kottayam-52 (Gouri Priya Santhosh18,Aneesha Cletus10)
• GVHSS Kannur- 61(Lthara KC18,Neethumol P Madhu14,RoseMary Sajan10)bt Providence GHS Kozhikode-50(Adhika NP23,Roselin Scaria11)

Girls League match in the Morning

• Girideepam-62(Christy Jacob15,Sneha Thomas130 bt Providence Kozhikode-51(Adhika NP35)stankanna

It was an mixed luck for Little Flwer HSS korattas they beat Presentation Kozhikode 55-22 while In an Exciting boys final little Flower HSS went down to St Ephremes HSS 53-59 after here for the 13th edition of the Lourdean Basketball Tournament for Boys and Girls here at the Lourde Flood Lit Stadium in Kottayam.

Earlier in boys semi final matches Little Flower HSS koratty has to struggle against host Lourdes Public School Kottayam with the score 61-50 while St Ephrmnes made it easy against Shanythaljyothi muttam with the score 68-44 to reach the final

In girls division Semi finals little flower HSS Koratty has no difficulty in beating St Josephs GHS Alapuzha 37-8 while in an exciting second girls semi final Presentation Kozhikode defeated GVHSS kannur 72-57 with the score and avenged their defeat it had in the league round
Sub Jr title for Lourde Kottayam

Lourde Public School Kottayam beat mar baselios School Maganam 38-33 to lift the sub junior title earlier they beat Marian junior School 32-13 to reach the final

Special Prizes

Boys

• Best Player -Shirash V St ephremes Mannam
• Promising Player – Indian Nelson Little Flower HSS Koratty

Girls

• Best Player – Aparna Sadasivan Little Flower HSS koratty
• Promising Player- Archana Vijayan presentation Kozhikode

Sub Junior Boys

• Best Player –S Sujith Lourde Public School
• Promising Player- Jose Joy Mar Baselios Mannanam

The trophies and mementoes were Distributed by Shri M P Dinesh IPS District Superintend of police Kottayam

Detailed Scores

Boys Final

• St Ephremes Mannanam-59(Shiraj Ahamed11,Jacob Jaimon11, Jithin Paul11,Aswin Abrahm10) bt Little Flower HSS Koratty- 53(GokulBabu16,Ginnebbenny13,Indian Nelson13)

Girls Final

• Little Flwer HSS Koratty-55(Aparna Sadasuivan16,Aleena Seby12) bt Presentation Kozhikode-22

Sub Jr Boys Final

• Lourdes Public School Mannanam-38(surjith18) bt Mar Baselios Maganam-33(Jose Joy13,RahulThomas12)

Boys Semi Finals

• Little Flower HSS Koratty – 61(Indian Nelson 17,Gineeb Benny15,Gokul Babu13) bt bt Lourde Public School Kottayam-50(Cyril Abraham14,Allen Francis12)
• St Ephremes HSS Mannanam-68(Jacob Simon15,Chacko C Simon14,Thomas G Jose11)) bt Shanthal Jyothi Mutttam-44(Aswin Binu19,Joseph Joshy13)

Girls Semi final

• Little Flower HSS Koratty-37(Aparna Sadasivan11,Aleena Seby10) bt St Josephs GHS Alapuzha-8
• Presentation Kozhikode –72(Akhila Mohan28,Anjanac13,Archana Vijayan11) bt GVHSS Kannur- 57(Aiswarya Sabu 23Lthara KC11,Neethumol P Madhu14,RoseMary Sajan10)

It was a Double Crown for Lourdes Public School kottayam as they won both boys and girls Divisions defeating Marian Senior Secondary School Kalthypady in both divisions the 12th Sahodaya CBSE Inter school Basketball Tournament here at the Newly built Mary Mount flood lit Basketball ground in Kattachira(Ettuanoor).

In the boys final after leading 31-10 at the halftime they went on to beat Marian School Kalathypady with the score 43-21 Jacob top scoring for lourdes with 13 points while in an lowly scoring girls match Lourdes defeated Marian 18-9

Earlier in the boys semi Final Lourdes beat Good Shepherd Thengana 40-15 while Marian beat host Mary mount 27-6 and in Girls semi Final matches Lourde beat S H Mount Kottayam14-4 and Marian got better of BMM Pampady 16-4

The Tournament Best Player in girls Division went to M sneha and in Boys Cyril Philip both from Lourdes Public School Kottayam

Boys
The Trophies and mementoes were distributed by Fr Benedict OIC President Kottayam Sahodaya

Detailed Scores Finals

Boys

• Lourdes public School Kottayam- 43 (Jacob Anil 13,Pranav Subnny10) bt Maian Public School kalathypady-21(Adharash thomas10)

Girls

• Lourdes public School Kottayam- 18 (Sneha 10) bt Maian Public School kalathypady-9

Semi finals Boys

• Marian School Kalathypady -27(Amal george Mathew 13) bt Mary mount Public School Kattachira-6
• Lourdes Public School kottayam-40(Pranav Sunny10) beat Good Shepherd English Medium School Thengana-15a

Lead by Basil Philip from Customs and Central Excise Kochi The Indian Senior team consisting of Basil Philip (C) Kerala, Siddhant Shinde(Maharastra) Rajesh Uppar (Karnataka) and Jeevanathan PAnd from Tamil Nadu left from Delhi for the third stage of the 2015 FIBA 3×3 World Tour to be held in Beijing China on 15-16 August 2015.
The 12 teams are divided into four pools of three teams playing in a round-robin first round against their two respective pool opponents. India is Placed in Group A along with teams from China and UAE .The top-two placed teams from each pool advance to a standard knock-out round which starts at the quarter-finals stage. The two best teams qualify for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final, which will be staged in Abu Dhabi on 15-16 October 2015.

ABOUT FIBA 3×3 WORLD TOUR

The FIBA 3×3 World Tour is the pinnacle event of an ‘open’ network of FIBA-endorsed 3×3 tournaments. Any group of four players – regardless of their nationality and representing a city – can qualify for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour by taking part in a lower level/regional tournament, eventually making their way to the world stage.

The FIBA 3×3 World Tour was first launched in 2012. The former winners are San Juan (PUR, 2012), Brezovica (SLO, 2013) and Novi Sad (SRB, 2014).

It consists of six Masters tournaments, before culminating with the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final. The schedule of the 2015 edition is the following:

• Manila Masters, Philippines – 1-2 August
• Prague Masters, Czech Republic – 8-9 August
• Beijing Masters, China – 15-16 August
• Lausanne Masters, Switzerland – 28-29 August
• Mexico DF Masters, Mexico – 9-10 September
• Rio de Janeiro Masters, Brazil – 26-27 September
• 3×3 World Tour Final, Abu Dhabi, UAE -15-16 October

The FIBA 3×3 World Tour events are true urban culture festivals, organised in the heart of the cities against the most iconic landmarks and feature non-stop music and MCs calling the games, professional dunkers, breakdancers and other street artists. They are in line with FIBA’s “3×3 for everyone philosophy” as spectators and passers-by are invited to participate in 3×3 games and

Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 14th September 2015: The 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship tipped off in Bhavnagar, Gujarat today morning. The week-long tournament is being conducted by the Gujarat State Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.

The tournament is scheduled from 14th to 20th September 2015 and shall see the participation of boys and girls teams in the ‘16 and under’ age category. Last year’s Youth National Championship was held in Chandigarh. The winners of the 2014 version were Tamil Nadu, in both the boys’ and girls’ categories, while the first runners up position was secured by the boys’ and girls’ teams from Kerala. The third place winner in the boys’ category last year was the team from Haryana. In the girls’ category, the third place winner last year was Karnataka.

Vimmy Varkey from St Josephs College Irinjalakuda and Sugeethanth from St Berchmens College Chnagancherr y will lead Kerala in the 66th National Basketball Championship for Junior Men & Women. To be held at Ludhiana , Punjab from 2nd to 9th October, 2015. P C Antony and Sudeep Bose from Kerala State Sports Council will be the coaches in Jr Women and Men Respectively while the teams will be managed by Raghunathan from Kasargod and RichuM MaryTthankachan from Thrissur

Team

Junior Women
Vimmy Varkey,(c) India Nelson,Nimmy George and Ann Rose Thomas (all fro Thrissur) Mayika KT, Anusha IP ,Aswathy Jayasankar and Nivyaraj PP (all from Kozhikode) Kavitha Jose nd Anju Mathew (from Kottayam) Amrutha E K from Kannur and Nimmy Mathew from Kollam Coach P C Antony (KSSC)

Junior Men
Sugeethanth (c) Akhil Jacob Thomas, Arjun Murali,(all from Kottayam) Prem Prakash,Siddharth SV,Anand R and Amal Johnson (all from Thiruvanthapuram) Adhithya Ambady and Jithin Johnson(Ernakulum) Anony Johnson and Gineeb Benny(Thrissur) Harkrishna Haridas from Alapuzha Coach Sudeep Bose (KSSC) Manager Ragunathan P (Kasargod)

Kerala Sports council will be conducting an open selection trials for Girls at the Rajeev Gandhi Indoor Stadium Kadavanthara on 3rd July 2015 for his Elite Basketball Training center.

Those who represented Kerala and seeking admission to Plus 1 to College between the age of 16 to23 are eligible to Participate in the Trails.

Those who selected will receive modern training also the help a foreign with also Rs 20,000/ worth sports kit and a pocket money of Rs12,000/ in an year . They also will get chance to train abroad under this scheme .
?Those Interested should report at the Rajeev Indoor Staium ?,Kadavathara with all eligible documents latest by 10 amon 3rd July 2015

Defending champions India re-affirmed their preeminent position in the South Asian region, with an emphatic 93-44 win over Sri Lanka. Both these sides came into this all important last league match of the 4th South Asian Basketball Championship (SABA) 2015 at the Kanteerava Stadium with perfect 4-0 records. India led (46-26 at halftime) it was a constantly slippery slope for the islanders. The third quarter saw the Indian team go on a particularly vicious tear, starting with a 9-0 run coming out of the halftime break. “India had four players in double digits, with Tamil Nadu’s centre Aravind Annadurai top scoring with 22 points, which included one three pointer, surprising for someone playing his position. “We are confident of doing better at the FIBA Asia level this time, as now other teams fear us.” said small forward Prasanna Venkatesh. He has reason to feel optimistic, as India fielded five first time senior team debutants this time, who managed to more than fill in for the absence of missing starters Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh Gill, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh.

The winning team was given a cash prize of Rs 35,000 as a personal gesture of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) President K Govindraj. Trophies and medals were handed out to the top three teams of India (gold), Sri Lanka (silver) and Nepal (bronze).

Detailed Scores

• India (Aravind A 22, Pratham Singh 17, Joginder Singh Saharan 13) bt Sri Lanka (Praneeth Udumalagala 13) 93-44 [22-13, 24-13, 29-10, 18-8].
•  Maldives (Mohamed Zilaal 18, Amhed Firaash 16, Ilyas Ibrahim 13) btBhutan (Chimi Wangchuk 11, Karma Wangchuk 11) 97-55 [21-14, 26-18, 30-11, 20-12]Morning.
•  Sri Lanka (Randima Sooriyaachchi 16, Thimothi Thineshkanth 14, Sudesh Ahmed 11) bt Nepal (Ayush Singh 13, Bikram Joshi 12, Sadish Pradhan 12) 76-68[18-23, 18-17, 22-15, 18-14].
•  India (Prasanna Venkatesh 26, Rikin Pethani 21, Akashdeep Hazra 17, A Aravind 17) Maldives (Zakariya Latheef 14) 128-48 [28-8, 39-10, 34-16, 27-14].
•  Bangladesh (Md Tareq Aziz 26 pts & 10 rbs, Mithunkumar Biswas 18 pts & 12 rbs, Mithun Sarkan 17) Bhutan (Rinchen Dorji 21, Tashi Tendhar 12) 82-70 [19-18, 18-15, 25-16, 20-21].

Kozhikode Girls and Kottayam Boys won Title of the 42nd Sub-Junior State Basketball championship e as they beat Thiruvananthapuram in both the sections the girls with the score 62-51 and Boys with Score here at the St Johns School Flood Lit Basketball Court in Anchal Shilpa was the top scorer for Kozhikode with 19 followed by Manniya Jacob with17 points.

In Boys section with an collective effort Kottayam boys who dethroned the defending Champion Kozhikode in the Quarter-final defeated Thiruvananthapuram with the score 53-38 to take the boys title for Kottayam Jaison Prince was the top scorer with 15 points followed by Akhil Michael and Aaron Varghese making 10 points each Pranav Prince was the top scorer for Thiruvananthapuram with 23 points.

Gouri S Nair from and Hari Govind both from Thiruvananthapuram grabbed the Championships Promising Player award while the Best Player award Instituted by Dr John M Chacko Chief Patron of Kerala Basketball Association went to Jaison Prince of Kottayam and Anagha G Nair from Kottayam.

Prises and mementoes were Distributed by Manohara Kumar President KBA, PP Varghese Sectrtary KBA and P J Sunny Chairman Selection Committee.

Sree Kala R Hiniured
The Mentor of Sreekala R the for Justin who was instrumental in organising this championship at Anchal honored Sreekala with a cash award at the closing function The player who grabbed the Most Valuable Player in Reliance foundation Elite Camp in Noida recently and the player who was instrumental in bringing the National Title to kerala Last year Sub Jr Nationals at Nasik who also was the MVP there too.

DETAILED SCORES FINAL GIRLS

Kozhikode – 62 (Shilpa – 19, Manniya Jacob – 17, Adhitya – 10) bt Thiruvanthapuram – 51 (gouri 17 Arunima)

Kozhikode Girls retained the 42nd Sub-Junior State Basketball championship Title as they beat Thiruvananthapuram 62-51 here at the St Johns School Flood Lit Basketball Court in Anchal Shilpa Manniya Jacob was the top scorer for Kozhikode with 19 followed by Manniya Jacobwith17 points and Anupama came as the top scorer for Thiruvananthapuram with11 points.

Earlier Thiruvananthapuram boys and Girls entered the final Earlier as they beat Ernakulam in both divisions as their boys beat with the score 56-36 their girls defeated with the score 43-34 to make the final against Kozhikode who defeated Kottayam 31-10, while Kottayam boys defeated Idukki 58-41 to make the final.

Joint Winners for Bronze
Ernakulam and Kottayam in Girls Division, while Ernakulam and Idukki in boys Division declared as Joint Holders for the Bronze Position match as heavy rain, spoiled the matches in the morning.

DETAILED SCORES FINAL GIRLS

Kozhikode – 62 (Shilpa – 19, Manniya Jacob – 17, Adhitya – 10) bt Thiruvanthapuram – 51 (Anupama – 11)

SEMI FINAL

Kozhikode-31 (Shilpa12) bt Kottayam-10(aann Mary9)
Thiruvanthpuram – 43 (Arunima – 15, Gouri S Nair – 9) bt Ernakulum – 34 (Rabeeca – 29)

BOYS

Thiruvanthapuram – 58 (Har Givind – 27, Pranav P – 19) bt Ernakulum – 36 (Calvin – 13 Midhun – 9)

Kottayam – 58 (Jerome Prince – 23, Akhi Michael – 10, Apron Varghese – 10) bt Idukki – 41 (Nikhil – 16) Ashiue – 13

Kottayam and Thiruvanthapuram boys and girls entered the Semi finals while Kozhikode had a Mixed fortune in the Quarter final here for the 42nd Kerala State Sub Junior Basketball Championships For Boys & Girls 2015 here at St Johns School Anchal on Saturday.

In the Boys quarterfinals matches Kottayam defeated Kozhikode 51-35 , Idukki beat Thrissur 36-32 Ernakulum beat Alapuzha 43-26 and Thiruvanthapuram beat Pathanmthitta 33 – 9 while in girls Kottayam beat Kannur 27-17, Thriuvanthapuram beat Thrissur 23-8 , Ernakulum beat Alapuzha 35-29 and Kozhikode girls had an easy victory over the home side Kollam with the score 34-9 to make the Semi Final.

In the Semi Final boys Kottayam will take on Idukki and Thiruvanthapurm will take on Ernakulum and Alapuzha Winners
In Girls Semi Final Kottaym will take on Kozhikode and Ernakulum will meet Thruvanthapuram.

DETAILED SCORES QUARTER FINAL BOYS

Kottayam – 51 (Jerom Prince – 24, Akhil Michae – l8) bt Kozhikode – 35 (Johan Solin – 14, Akhil Joseph – 10)
Thiruvanthapuram – 33 (Hari Govind – 14, Pranav – 11) bt Pathanamthitta – 9
Idukki – 36 (Ashique – 16, Nikhil – 11) bt Thrissur – 32 (Unni – 14, Geo – 13)
Ernakulum – 43, (Bennuamin – 17, Calvin – 14) bt Alapuzha – 26 (Kevin Chacko – 10)

DETAILED SCORES QUARTER FINAL GIRLS

Thruvanthapuram – 23 (Gouri – 8, Krishna Priya – 8) bt Thrissur – 8
Ernakulum – 34 (Rebecca – 33) bt Alapuzha – 25 (Godsy – 6)
Kottayam – 27 (Ann Mary – 23) bt Kannur – 17 (Maria Shaji – 7)
Kozhikode – 34 (Anagha – 12) bt Kollam – 9

Hon Minister d for Sports and Transport Shri Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will Inaugurate the 42nd Kerala State Sub Junior Basketball Championships For Boys & Girls 2015 here at St Johns School Anchal on 15th May 2015 5.00 Pm.

This Five day Championship which will be organised by the Kollam District Basketball Association under the auspicious of Kerala basketball Association at the newly built Flood Lit Basketball ground of St Johns School Anchal .The teams are divided in to Four Groups and will be played on a league cum Knock out Basis 14 Districts in Boys and Girls will be participating in this Championship The state Team to participate in the National sub Junior Championship will be selected from this Championship. Kozhikode in boys section and Thiruvanthapuram in Girls Division at are the reigning Champions, Three teams each from Pool A and B and one each from Cand D will qualify for the Knock out stage

GROUPINGS BOYS

Group A – Kozhikode,Thiruvanthapuram, Thrissur, Wayanad
Group B – Ernakulum, Idukki, Malapuram, Pathanamthitta
Group C – Kottayam, Kollam, Palakkad
Group D – Alapuzha, Kasargod and Kannur

GROUPINGS GIRLS

Group A – Thiruvanthapuram, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta
Group B – Ernakulum, Thrissur, Kannur, Wayanad
Group C – Kollam, Idukki, Palakkad
Group D – Kasargod, Malapuram , Alapuzha

JR NBA Elite National Camp glittered with expertise and results. 22 kids and 4 coaches from Kerala benefited by this. 22 kids from Kerala got the rare chance to be part of the 1st Reliance Foundation JR NBA Elite National Camp held at 3 Indoor and 3 Outdoor Basketball Courts at Jaypee Gardens India’s best Basketball grounds in Greater Noida.

Twenty players selected from Jr NBA Elite Camp from Kochi and Sreekala and Aparna Sadasivan selected from the BFI List formed Kerala’s contingent. Sreekala has been adjudged the Most Valuable Player, earning her a pair of Nike Baketball shoes , Lakers Bag and a Spalding Basketball

These 22 upcoming players, along with the 4 Selected Coaches, had the rare chance to meet and learn from NBA’s first Indian-origin player Sim Bhullar, who is now in India on a promotional and personal trip. The 7’ 5’’ centre player, made available his expertise and experience to impart the best training to the 140 best performers in the programme, including the 21 selected by BFI, from Punjab, Kolkotta, New Delhi, Chennai, Maharashtra and Kerala.

“I am very excited to travel to India to see at firsthand how basketball’s popularity has grown in India and to meet young basketball players across the country,” said Bhullar. “Hopefully sharing my story will help inspire young Indians to pursue their dreams on and off the court, just as I have” he added.

The camp consisted of skills training, competitions, games, fitness training and team building exercises. It is the goal of the Reliance Foundation Jr NBA programme to promote health, fitness and an active lifestyle through basketball. The teams were received on 3rd May and the players were provided with Socks, Shorts and jr NBA T Shirts and were put in AC dormitories at the Jaypee Gardens Greater Noida. The same day, players and Coaches met in the evening.

On the second day players had to be ready at 6.30 am and after breakfast players U13, and U16 were divided into Four Groups for the sake of draft team games of 16 minutes each and the teams were coached by the asst coaches selected from each city. In the evening, after the draft matches, main teams called by the Coaches and the selected ones were coached by the NBA Selected coaches.

From the third day onwards, all the teams were on the Court from 8 am and to 10.30 am. City-wise, teams were put up in 7 stations. Francisco Garcia (Spain) working on Guarding, strength and conditioning,, Tommy Heffelfinger(USA), working on Fitness, Senior Director Basketball Operations, NBA, Troy Justice, doing Defence Mechanisms, Assistant Vice President (AVP) Basketball Operations of NBA China, Greg Stolt, Training wing layers, and Senior Director, Basketball Operations of India, Carlos Barroca.and India’s best Vishesh Brighwancy, working on Shooting, Scoot Flemming from USA, doing Post Plays, International Players Mohit Bahndary and Sambaji Kadam, doing Ball Handling and the former international players Shiba Maggon, Divya Singh, Sunita Suren, Raspreet Sidhu former youth national coach Paramdeep Singh, sharing their expertise and experience, and a half an hour Practice from 10.30 am to 11 am, followed by the shooting competitions at 11 am, concluding at 12 noon, formed the morning session.

After lunch from 3 to 6, games of 40 minutes each, were held. What is special about this game was that, only man-to-man defence was permitted, and that too without the full court pressing. From 7 pm to 8 pm, they were at the swimming pool. Dinner was served from 8 to 9.30 pm. From then on, were the cultural programmes. The fourth day also continued like this and on the final day after the 4o minutes games , were held Shooting competitions and Hot Shot competitions. Each player’s performance was screened and scrutinised with the help of videos before and after the Camp.

About Jr NBA Programme 2014 Kerala

In 2013, the NBA joined hands with the Reliance Foundation to launch the Reliance Foundation Jr NBA programmes in various Indian cities. Over the last two years, the programme reached more than one million youths in 1,000 schools in eight cities across the country. In Kerala last year 110 schools participated in the 3-month camp held in Kochi, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alapuzha and Thrissur guided by the international coaches who have supported program implementation at each school in Kerala where, Syndney Hydel from USA, JAJA Richards from USA and Joa Rocha from Portugal , the local coaches under Head coach Shibu Hormis were Raphel,Prem,Robert, Jithin, Akhil,Augustine Antony ,Anil Soman, Disil Davis and Bert Jacob were physical education instructors have conducted weekly basketball-led physical education classes for grades 4-10 in their schools. In addition to the in-school portion, an Elite Tarining programme was also conducted in Three Canters in Kottayam (Assumption College ) YMCA in Alapuzha and Rajagiri Public School in Ernakulum.

The Mission of the Coach

1. To be Positive all the time (On & Off the Court)

2.  To be a Teacher all the time

3.  To Demonstrate Exercises & Drills

4.  To Give Positive Reinforcements to the Players

5.  To Avoid Shouting at Players

6.  To Avoid Shouting at the Referees

7.  To be on Time

8.  To be Always be with your Team

9.  Measurements

10.  Filming

11.  Swimming Pool

12.  Meals

Those atended from Kerala at the Programme

K O Oommen as Director Field Operations
Shibu Hormis as Coach
PremKumar, Desil Francis and Roggy Rose Mathew? worked as Asst coaches

UNDER 13 GIRLS

Lena Sheju – Mount Carmel School
Merin Vargmees – CMI Central School
Sandra Anil – Little Flower Koraty (L. F. C. H. S. S)
Ann Maria – CMI Central School
Godsy T Joseph – St. Joseph Alpy

UNDER 13 BOYS

Noel Binny – St. Paul International
Tom Kurian – Kristhan Jyothi H.S.S. Changanacheng
Rusbeen – Leo XIII H.S.S. Alappuzha
Rifas N – Nava Mirman School
Ajay Andrews – Jyothi Nikethan S.S. School

UNDER 16 GIRLS

Neethu S – St. Joseph Alpy
Reeshma – St thomas Perumanoor
Jaya Laksmmi V. J – St. Joseph Alpy
Aswathy Sureh – Little Flower Koraty (L. F. C. H. S. S)
Srekala R – St Goerotty School,Thiruvanthapuram
Aparna Sadasivan – Little Flower HSS Koratty ?

UNDER 16 BOYS

Midhum Sunesh – Rajasree School
Shloke Somanath – Navanirman School
Nirmal Joseph – Leo XIII H.S.S. Alappuzha
Gringo Mathew Varghese – Little Flower Koraty (L. F. C. H. S. S)
ithin George – Girideepam Bethany H. S. S