The Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), intent on opening up more avenues of development for young players, will soon launch islandwide monthly mini camps with the support of major sponsorships.

President Ajani Williams, going all-out to overhaul the local game, has come up with an umbrella initiative called Basketball Quest for youths seeking a path to one of the world’s most popular and lucrative sports.

“This involves a seven-step programme of creating one of the best opportunity platforms for youth across the island,” Williams revealed.

JaBA was taken by surprise, however, when the United States Embassy approved a grant of USD$15,000 (JMD$1.3m) for the mini camps, details of which will be announced shortly.

The plan is to host the camps in 10 regions, with at least 10 senior coaches taking charge of 100 youngsters.

While some 1,000 participants are expected to take part in the camps a few weekends per month, Williams noted that the camps would be “geared towards keeping kids active, teaching them the fun and fundamentals of the game of basketball without excessive demands.

“The programme will also see a novel approach with 12 junior officers who are mainly high school students, who were recipients of the US State Department’s Sports United exchange programme earlier this year. Those recipients went on an (intense) 10-day exchange to Washington DC to experience a different level of basketball and life.

“It is expected that they will help coach and mentor the youth at these mini-camps and share with them some of their new-found insights,” the JaBA president explained.

Having embarked on an ultra-ambitious refashioning of all their programmes, the local governing body has disposed of past undertakings and embraced new properties such as the Elite Academy.

The upcoming camps would represent “the most comprehensive youth camp ever undertaken by JaBA”, according to its president, which “will also be sponsored by other private sponsors to make it a year-long event”.

It is the hope of the association that through basketball Jamaica will have better communities and combined with academics “give young boys and girls the opportunity to explore their talents, discover their passions, so that one day it may be utilised to benefit themselves, their families, their country and the world”.

JaBA is very appreciative of the grant from the US Embassy, added Williams