Jr NBA returns to Thailand while NBA commissioner dismisses scandal worries
Jr NBA, the NBA’s global youth development programme that promotes basketball participation and an active lifestyle among children, returns to Thailand for the second consecutive year.
Jr NBA Thailand 2015 presented by Foremost runs from June until July and is expected to reach more than 3,000 children.
Participants are trained in the fundamentals of basketball and learn the importance of the Jr NBA core values of STAR — sportsmanship, teamwork, a positive attitude, and respect.
“It is an honour to co-create and be a part of Jr NBA Thailand programme for the second year in Thailand,” said Pimjan Vimuktanonda, marketing director of Friesland Campina (Thailand).
“Jr NBA Thailand combines the unique experience of learning the core values of sportsmanship and teamwork for Thai youths, whilst encouraging an active lifestyle in order to be strong both physically and mentally.”
Francesco Suarez, NBA Asia vice president of global marketing partnerships and events, said, “Jr NBA Thailand continues to expand, surpassing our participation rate from year one to give even more young players, coaches, educators and parents the opportunity to experience this lifechanging programme.”
The programme began yesterday with a coaching clinic in Bangkok, which is free and open to players between five and 14 years old.
For more information, visit www. jrnba.asia/thailand.
Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has no worries about a Fifa-style scandal, saying that transparency and audits keep the global governing body Fiba honest.
Football governing body Fifa has seen top officials charged with fraud and money laundering by US authorities in a scandal that prompted the resignation of president Sepp Blatter
But open financial records and moves from Fiba’s directors, which includes an NBA representative, have Silver confident in the sport’s integrity.
“There has been absolutely no suggestion that our federation, Fiba, has been corrupted in any way,” Silver said. “That has never been an issue with what’s going on with Fiba. We’re very confident in the way Fiba is being handled right now.
“We feel very good about the future of our sport.”