Women’s basketballers set for two-month stint in China
Published:Thursday | June 20, 2024 | 12:51 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
IN A bid to boost the talent pool and further develop women’s basketball in Jamaica, 17 of the brightest prospects will depart the island on June 30 for a two-month long training camp in China.
Paulton Gordon, president of the Jamaica Basketball Association, said the team is looking forward to the training camp, which he believes has created development opportunities.
“We’re certainly looking forward to this opportunity as its part of a pathway for these young ladies. We’ve had cohorts that have gone to China, and we’ve seen the difference in their development and playing style. This is the only way that we can look towards sustainability – by exposing these young ladies,” said Gordon.
According to Gordon, the girls are eagerly anticipating the training camp as they are aware that scholarships and professional offers could be on the horizon. He added that the players will be placed under different training regimes in a bid to further enhance their particular skillsets.
“The age group that will be going is 15 to 21. We’re looking forward to exposing these young ladies to new training methodologies to improve their overall skillset. This might create further opportunities for scholarships and playing elsewhere. The girls have been in training consistently for the last two to three months, and they’re eager for the opportunity as most of them understand what this can do for them,” Gordon explained.
Cleon Morgan, head coach of the team, shared that there were various elements of basketball that he would look to, to help the team improve upon.
“They’re various areas of the sport that would need improvement including footwork, dribbling, shooting, and passing as these are very important skills that are used to play the sport. We’ll also be focusing on the pick-and-roll aspect as modern-day basketball comprises a lot of this,” he explained.
Morgan added that defending was something else he is keeping a close eye on.
“One-on-one defence is another area of the game that I’d love to see them develop so that they can be overall players both offensively and defensively,” he said.
Makeisha Robinson, manager of the team, suggested that based on last year’s staging of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), there has been a rise in the interest level for women’s basketball in Jamaica.
“We had a WNBL last year, and we realised that others are noting that women’s basketball is on the rise. We got a lot of support, and I believe that what is happening now is that the girls are very interested in honing their skills, and they are looking forward to the technical training that they will be exposed to,” said Robinson.