Jr. NBA returns to Camana Bay

The Jr. NBA returns to Camana Bay this month.

The official youth basketball programme of the National Basketball Association has partnered with Dart to host a Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Week 13-17 Nov. at the Camana Bay Sports Complex. The week will include a variety of clinics and programming for players, fans and families. Events include 3x3 tournaments, skills challenges, clinics for aspiring female players and a Special Olympics clinic and all of the events are aimed at enhancing fundamental skills and core values of the game, including teamwork, unity, respect, commitment and confidence.

“Dart has been instrumental in helping us grow basketball in the Cayman Islands,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. “We embrace this shared goal of expanding our grassroots basketball development efforts and providing more opportunities for Cayman youth, fans and families to learn the values of the game and importance of a healthy, active lifestyle for years to come.”

The week begins with Dart Project Resource and Accounting Manager and Special Olympics Cayman Islands (SOCI) Sports & Training Director Hayley Drever helping programme a session for the SOCI athletes.

"I coach with SOCI because I realise that I grew up with the privilege and opportunity to play any sport I desired, and now I see how much it shaped me as a person — not just in sport but in every aspect of my life," Drever said. "To be able to play a part in doing that for someone else and seeing them succeed and thrive in sport, especially where that opportunity may not have normally been available, just makes it that much more special."

Next up is "Her Time to Play," a clinic for girls ages 10 to 17 on Thursday, 14 Nov., followed by an invite-only skills clinic on Friday, 15 Nov. and a 3 x 3 tournament for both boys and girls 16-17 Nov.

 "I think the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA events here in Cayman are wonderful," Drever said. "I am a huge NBA fan and think this is a great way to expose more athletes to the sport. I think it can also expand a lot of athletes' minds as to what is possible and what they can dream to be when they meet someone of that calibre, which isn't an everyday occurrence on this island."

This event marks the second such Jr. NBA event to be held at Camana Bay. Last year, the Jr. NBA held clinics, camps and tournaments at both the Arts & Recreation Centre as well as the Cayman International School gym.

This article was originally published in the November 2024 print edition of Camana Bay Times.