JaBA focuses on youth programme
By Job Nelson

The Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA) has once again moved to broaden the sport across the island and is presently taking steps to have a youth programme throughout Jamaica.

According to president of JaBA, Marland Nattie, his association has started preparatory work in having the sport played in the central, northern and eastern regions of the island.
Nattie said, "one of the things in having a system by any (sport) programme is getting players introduced to the game at an early age while the proper fundamentals are being taught.

"The basketball association is taking this in two stages. First, we want to increase the number of coaches with the basics of playing the game. At present we have introduced a programme at the G.C. Foster College and basketball is now included in the curriculum.
"The second thing is teaching the game at the primary level. The Physical Education teachers at these schools are being taught the basic fundamentals, while the kids are learning the game as well."

According to Nattie, this programme in the primary schools started two years ago with 10 institutions but has since grown to 23 schools, which is made up of both primary and prep schools.

A clinic was held in Montego Bay recently, with the other regions being prepared as well. The central region consists of St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon; northern made up of St. Ann and St. Mary; with the eastern region comprising St. Thomas and Portland.
At the high school level, Nattie said his association will continue with having an All-Star game, in which the best players during the basketball season will be selected for their regions. He, however, said the emphasis will be placed on players who are under-17 years of age.

From this, a set of players will be chosen for the Star Search Life Skill and Basketball Development Camp, which is a one-week course where players are taught basketball during the days and life skills development in the evenings. Nattie said last year was very successful, with 12 players receiving overseas scholarships.

He said, "there is no doubt that Jamaica has a lot of talented players, as we are presently seeing scholarships being offered to players going to high schools. A good thing about this is that it is not localised only to Kingston, as players from all over the island are receiving scholarships.

"However, there is a problem in that the coaches are not spending enough time to develop their players with regards to being discipline in playing in a team.
"Basketball is much more intricate than most other sports and what a talented player might get away with for instance in football, it will not be the same for basketball. What happens with these players is that it limits their marketability," Nattie said.