Basketball star helps Cambodian youth team

CAMBODIAN national youth b a s k e t b a l l t e a m p l a y e r s enjoyed the luxury of training under the tutelage of American collegiate star Mark MacDonald for a few days.

According to a Cambodian Basketball Federation (CBF) Facebook page posting, MacDonald’s short stint, which started on April 24, ends at the National Stadium today.

Highlighting his impressive career, the CBF noted that the 32-year old MacDonald had a 10-year basketball career in America and Europe.

He played high school basketball in Lexington, Massachusetts, where he won four league championships and was Middlesex League MVP and voted onto the Boston Globe All-Scholastic twice.

He then went on to play at Brown University in the Ivy League, where he was a fouryear starter and named team captain in 2008, helping lead the Bears to a school record 19-win season in the NCAA division 1 and a postseason invitation to the College Basketball Invitational.

Af ter Universit y, MacDona ld spent a year volunteering at a youth sports organisation i n New York Cit y c a l le d Up2Us.

W h i le i n New York , he played in competitive pro-am summer leag ues w it h a nd against NBA players like Kyrie Ir v ing, Mike Dunleav y, Ron A r test a nd Joaqu i n Noa h, among others.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play for some of the best coaches in America and would like to share what I’ve learned with the team in Cambodia.

“From the fundamentals of the game to drills that help a team play better as one, I hope to leave the team with something they can use to get better in the future.” he said.

MacDonald is in Cambodia volunteering with Global Service Corps (GSC), a US-based international development nonprofit that “working with organization staff and local students, [its] volunteers help empower youth and build a generation of active, peaceminded leaders” in the countries it works in, according to its website.

“A little basketball will be immersive for everyone concerned,” said a Facebook comment from GSC.