Friday Digicel and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that the top 14 boys and girls from the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Programme will attend an NBA game at the Barclays Center featuring the Brooklyn Nets vs. the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, Oct. 28.  As part of the NBA experience, these young will also tour NBA facilities, visit local New York City landmarks, receive elite basketball training and participate in life skills sessions.

The young players were selected by New Orleans Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry following their participation in the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Elite Camp held in Trinidad and Tobago, which brought together the best basketball players aged 17 and under from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

"We have a lot of young talent in the Caribbean who don’t often get the chance to showcase their abilities or receive the level of encouragement and support they need to take their game to the next level.  Through this NBA partnership, we can provide these players and their coaches with the proper training and inspiration to grow the game across the region," said Digicel Group Sponsorship Manager, Tari Lovell. "We congratulate these young basketball players for working hard and showing great progress in just six to seven short months."

"We are proud that the fourth year of the Digicel NBA Jumpstart programme has been successful in showcasing our commitment to growing the game in the Caribbean and all of Latin America," said NBA Vice President, Latin America, Arnon de Mello.  “Congratulations to these young players who had the unique opportunity to learn directly from NBA and WNBA players and coaches.  I know that they will have a fantastic time on their trip to New York City as they enjoy an authentic NBA experience."

The 2018 Digicel NBA Jumpstart Camps, which visited Haiti for the first time in addition to Turks and Caicos, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, featured an expanded format and a record 72 youth participants at each camp. Among them are Evens Appolon and Chedlet Delva, the two young Haitians which have been selected. Content from the camps and trip to the U.S. is being shared with fans across Digicel’s social media platforms and on SportsMax. 

The 2018-19 NBA season runs from October 2018 to April 2019.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24429-haiti-nba-jumpstart-digicel-7-young-basketball-players-selected-for-the-elite-camp.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24369-haiti-basketball-the-nba-in-the-country-to-train-and-recruit-young-haitian-hopes.html

HL/ BF/ HaitiLibre