MEXICO CITY (Mexico) – The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) of the Americas makes a stop in Mexico City to celebrate the third edition of the Youth Development Elite Camp, which will take place in Mexico’s National High-Performance Center (CNAR, for its Spanish acronym) from June 20 to 23, 2019.

The YDP Elite Camp will welcome the best 24 prospects from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama of the ages of 16 and 17. It’ll also feature eight coaches and include a Young Referees Camp with 12 participants, led by FIBA Americas Referees Director Geraldo Fontana.

Mexico is the third nation in Latin America that hosts this initiative, after Brazil and Argentina. The YDP was presented in Mexico City by FIBA Americas Executive Director Carlos Alves, who was joined by Xóchitl Lagarda, head of the Mexican Basketball Sports Association (ADEMEBA, for its Spanish acronym). Also present were CNAR Director Héctor García; Horacio Llamas, the first Mexican NBA player; and Pedro “Pery” Meza, national team member.

“This was a strong initiative in favor of the youth of the continent, which was something we hadn’t done in the past three years. The challenge is to get in a position that enables them to be at the 2023 World Cup in the Philippines and in the 2024 Olympic Games,” said Alves.

There were 24 young players chosen; 18 from Mexico, two from Guatemala, two from El Salvador, one from Costa Rica and one from Panama. They’ll be part of a YDP that's focused on identifying, developing and promoting the best young athletes of the continent. FIBA's mission is to offer players the tools they need to have an impact on their senior national teams while focusing on the development of youth and of a basketball with a vision for the future.

“We're working on building a solid athletic foundation that guarantees the development and evolution of youth categories. Mexico is an essential part of the FIBA global strategy, and that's where the importance of this camp lies. YDP's objective is to find young players that can complement their evolution process as basketball players and advance their abilities,” said the ADEMEBA directive in her presentation.

The first day of the camp will include measurements and physical evaluations, as well as a welcome talk and a conference by physical trainer Oscar Franco García, who will be interacting with the prospects during the four days of the camp. Also, Mexican national team coach Iván Déniz will provide a talk for coaches during the last day of the camp.

The YDP will include skills development sessions, nutrition talks by Dr. Martín Sánchez Santiago, game psychology, team practice and five on five games. On Saturday, national team player Israel Gutiérrez will visit the CNAR and will give a talk to players.

Campinas, in Brazil, was the first host city. Buenos Aires, in Argentina, hosted the second edition of the camps that are taking place in the Americas. Mexico is now the third, and the fourth will be in the Caribbean Zone, and the conclusion will be a FIBA Americas Regional Camp and a World Championship. In each camp, there’ll be players chosen to be part of the elite team, along with the five from Campinas and the five from Argentina. They’ll represent FIBA Americas in the exhibition games that’ll take place in key dates of the international basketball calendar.

Marcio Henrique Da Costa, Matheus Leoni Brito, Guilherme Carvalho, Daniel Ifedi Ferreira, Bruno Henrique Pedro, Tomás Allende, Federico Copes, Esteban Cáffaro, Lucas Sigismonti, and Mateo Bianchi, were selected to the FIBA Americas Elite Squad during the first two YDP Camps in Campinas and Buenos Aires.

The next five players joining the FIBA Americas Elite Squad will be announced on June 23, during the last day of the camp in Mexico.

The Youth Elite Camp is based on one of FIBA Americas’ fundamental pillars, the Youth Development Program, whose objectives are the following:

• Seek and develop the Elite Young Players in the Americas with a view to having these participants elevating the quality of their national teams by the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and the Paris Olympic Games 2024
• Establish a process for tracking and monitoring young talent in their evolution and progression in the Americas Region
• Work hand in hand with Key Stakeholders and National Federations to identify talents

The Program will be executed through individual camps and development of young talent and is structured into three pillars: growing access of basketball to young athletes, giving more opportunities for them to develop their game and creating a platform for the elite youth players of the Americas. Its implementation phase began with the Elite Camps for children in December of 2018 and throughout 2019. The year 2020 will be the debut date for the Elite Camp for girls.

FIBA