The participants in last Wednesday's clinic at the National Outdoor Courts along with RaMell Ross and Alvin Green.

US college MVPs host basketball clinics

United States college basketball most valuable players (MVPs) RaMell Ross and Alvin Green were in the island last week conducting a series of basketball clinics as a part of the US State Department's Culture and Connect programme as facilitated by the US Embassy here in Jamaca. These clincs were setup to give Jamaican teens the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game. In addition to the clinic at the National Outdoor Courts, there were other clinics scheduled for August Town and Grants Pen, where a health clinic was also run by USAID and the USAID-sponsored Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The clinics also had a healthy lifestyle section hosted by the Ministry of Health.

Green, a 22 year-old born in the Bronx, New York, grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and has just earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration. He was a member of the Coastal Caroline University basketball team, where he served as team co-captain and was voted MVP of the squad by his teammates. Ross, is 23 years old and of average height for a basketball player. Although born in Germany, he grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and has been ranked in the top 100 US high school basketball platers and has also received the Patriot District Co-MVP award, the Northern Region MVP award. In college he played for the Georgetown University Hoyas, where he served as co-captain.

The clinics began at 2:00 pm at the National Outdoor basketball courts last Wednesday, after loss of luggage and flight delays pushed the start time back some six hours. In the mean time I interviewed some of the players who were on hand to hear what they hoped to achieve from the experience.

RaMell Ross and Alvin Green, the MVP college basketball players brought in by the US Embassy to host last week's basketball clinics, along with Observer TeenAge writer Sheldon Wright (centre).

Calabar student Laselles Johnson, said, "We are basically here to gain the proper technical fundamentals of the game in order to improve." There were players from all the national clubs like Alister Semister of Arnett Gardens Link Up All Stars. Their coach and manager Dave McLauren said that he wanted to give his players an opportunity to gain more skills and insight on the game.

Many high schools also had representatives at the clinic, like Denbigh High School and Hailie Selassie, whose participant was a 13 year-old that stood tall at five feet, eight inches. The only girl present was Kedein Wright of Holy Childhood, who after missing her bus to the Jeff Rogers camp decided to join the action at the Stadium.

Basketball wasn't the only thing on the agenda for Ross and Green. In addition to developing the fundamental skills of the participants they also put a lot of emphasis on getting an education at the college level to further their game and self-development.

The Police Executive Research Forum

The newly formed Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) played a large role in the basketball clinics. Grants Pen which has been prominent in the media for being a high crime area has been the site of a drive to improve relationships between the citizens and the police. In Grants Pen, however, there is now a community centre where children can get homework help, as well as use computer labs and socialise with other children in a safe environment.

This has also evolved into a massive development drive in the community. PERF has been a part of this drive, with its Community Policing Advisory Panel that helps to curtail crime and teaches police officers safer ways of handling citizens physically and socially. There is also a Youth Club Development Committee (YCDC) which provides mentorship programmes that teaches young people good ways to interact with other youngsters. The YCDC mainly target pre-teens and younger children in the hope that they will grow up to be decent citizens of tomorrow. In charge of these programmes in Grants Pen are Inspector Michael Simpson, Commander for the Grants Pen Model Station; Constable Gregory Bennett, Community Relations Coordinator; and Donovan Corcho, Community Facilitator.

I hope that programmes like these will be successful for the betterment of communities and Jamaica on a whole because our nation is depending on a better generation for tomorrow.

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