Draymond Green, Kenny Lofton Jr lift the spirits of P.H.A.S.E.1 basketballers

A FIRST-CLASS experience it was for players of the P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy AAU Team, who got a chance to rub shoulders with National Basketball Association (NBA) players Draymond Green from Golden State Warriors and Kenny Lofton Jr, from the Memphis Grizzlies, at the Montego Bay Community College yesterday.

Green and Lofton Jr, who are on vacation with their families, visited the facility to do workout drills.

During an interview with The Gleaner, Jonathon Beckford, a player with P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy, said the session was a pleasant surprise.

“I never expected this to happen because Jamaica is a small island, but it is really good to see talent like this come here to work out and train. In Jamaica, we play only if the court is available, so seeing the talent abroad was a good experience for us when we represented Jamaica in the AAU tournament. It was a good feeling. The competition was hard because they live, sleep, and eat basketball,” Beckford said.

P.H.A.S.E. 1 Academy Jamaica U17 training cohort, based in Montego Bay and started in 2019, represented the country for the first time when the team travelled to the Marquee Hoops NCAA-sanctioned Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournament in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from July 4 to 10.

Wayne Dawkins, CEO, P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy, said he was also happy with the exposure for the young basketballers.

“It is amazing, and it is something we have been looking forward to for some time now. I am so excited and happy for the youths and Jamaica. We knew that Jamaica had that appeal for professional athletes. They come here and vacation all the time. It’s just now having a floor and a space here where they can come and interact with our youth and our local athletes. That’s something we have been trying to make happen,” Dawkins said.

LACK OF FACILITIES

According to Dawkins, the lack of basketball facilities is what makes professional athletes reluctant to come to Jamaica.

“For the programmes here to make sense to professional athletes, we need the right facilities. We can’t expect these multimillion pros to play on concrete, not in proper conditions and risk their careers. If we want to be known as a place where you can vacation, train, and for athletes at the highest level, putting in good infrastructure, floors, and covered buildings, that is a huge priority. It is also a priority for the development of the youth because in order for them to develop as pros, they need to develop on the same surface and in the same conditions that they will have to play as professionals,” Dawkins told The Gleaner.

In a small huddle with the young basketballers, Green took the time out to share his thoughts about how they can maximise their potential.

“You are all at a disadvantage with the infrastructure and all of those things here. You have kids in America who have been working out since they were seven years old. You are already behind, but how do you catch up? There is no secret. It is about working hard, outworking everybody, working your butt off every day.

“Me and Kenny are so-called rivals because we play for different teams, but I saw him at the hotel and we said, ‘Let’s go get a workout done’,” Green said.

“If there is no gym, find somewhere outside to work out, do push ups, run, get in better shape, do something. The guy who outworks everybody is the guy who wins. It’s as simple as that.”