The NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Camp
The following is a first-person recap by New Heights (NYC) Founder/Director/Coach Nick Blatchford regarding his recent trip to Africa. Enjoy!
I recently visited Africa with SEED (www.seedproject.org) Founder and Basketball Without Borders Director Amadou “Gallo” Fall. (He’s also the Director of Player Personnel and Scouting for the Dallas Mavs.) I am working with him to develop the organization’s board, staff and infrastructure.
In 2002, Gallo founded SEEDS to promote health and education for young people in West Africa. The Foundation runs a year-round boarding school for promising student-athletes from Senegal, and the long-term vision is to expand the academic/athletic instruction to more than 200 kids throughout the continent. The Academy currently has several students attending high schools and colleges in the US. The most notable alumnus is NBA center DaSagana Diop. Supporters of SEEDS include the NBA, Nike, and the Dallas Mavs.
Without a doubt, the highlight of our trip to Senegal was a visit to Goree Island and the Maison des Esclaves, a former center of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Chilling experience to stand at the “Door of No Return.”
The NBA’s BWB Africa camp was special. The camp was run by Gallo, along with native Nigerian Masai Ujiri (Raptors’ Director of Scouting) Lance Blanks (Cavs’ Director of Basketball Operations) and RC Buford (Spurs’ GM). For five days, more than 100 kids from throughout the continent, ages 14-18, were taught and coached by current and former NBA players, including Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Martin, Pat Garrity, Malik Rose, Alex English, Bruce Bowen and Jimmy Jackson. Several NBA scouts and assistant coaches participated as well.
The kids had enormous talent and a refreshing hunger to learn. The NBA guys had a great time coaching them, and their skill improvement was noticeable. There was however a shortage of strong guard play. Maybe kids are not starting early enough? As we know, PGs need a natural “feel” for the game that is picked up early in one’s career. The infrastructure of the game has not been developed, so few leagues exist that run midget and biddy divisions. I had a chance to discuss the issue with George Raveling (Nike’s Global Director of Basketball Sports Marketing), who agreed. The Swoosh is BWB’s title sponsor and will continue to invest in the development of the game across the continent.
The future is bright. Basketball is growing in Africa; more kids are playing, watching and learning than ever before. With the growth of organizations like SEEDS, the camps run by Masai Ujiri in Nigeria and former Georgetown player Joe Tuomo in Cameroon, the game is developing and growing at a strong pace.
Nick Blatchford
Founder
New Heights Youth, Inc
www.newheightsnyc.org
“Learning Happens Everywhere.”
Court. Classroom. Community.
Nick Blatchford, 5th from left, with the SEEDS crew.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Jesse Washington says:
Nick, thanks for this inspirational account and your service to the game of basketball. Sometimes we forget how good we have it here.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Stanley Lumax says:
Nick, good to see you made it to Senegal. I’m heading back to Ghana this Feb-March. Would love to connect with you before I go.