Laying a strong base

Kochi: The whole of Kerala came to a standstill on Monday due to a hartal but that did not prevent around 140 physical education teachers from across three districts to arrive for a first-of-its-kind bas ketball workshop at the Rajagiri public school in Kakkanad.

The workshop, led by Troy Justice, senior director of NBA India, was a huge success as it sowed the seeds of basket ball education in over 100 schools in the districts of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Kottayam. The workshop, labeled Train The Trainer, focu sed on forming a system to educate local coaches and physical education teachers.

The organisers say it will in turn help in spreading the benefits of the pro gramme to over 40,000 youth in the state. Troy said that the programme will promote fitness and an active lifestyle through basketball and teach the values of the game. “Teaching teamwork, sacrifice, discipline, dedication and sportsmanship are the essentials of the programme,“ Troy said during the workshop.

According to NBA India, international coaches will be flown down to Kerala for a period of three months in the season for the next step of the programme. All coaches who took part in the three-day programme will be given a Junior NBA bag containing resources to help the game grow. The bag includes an Indiaspecific coaching guide for school and after-school training, nets, cones, air-pumps and more.

The international coaches will also support the programme at each level by conducting weekly basketball-led physical education classes for players from Class IV to X.