SAN JUAN – The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in the Americas announced that the fourth Youth Development Program Elite Camp will be held at the YMCA in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 8-11.

The fourth edition of the Youth Development Program Elite Camp will feature 24 players from Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Puerto Rico. A Camp for Young Referees will be simultaneously hosted at the YMCA during the same dates.

Participant arrivals will begin on August 8, day where a press conference will be held to tip-off the camp at 11:00am in the Salon Elliot Castro in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. The first day of the camp will feature Anthropometric Measurements and Physical Evaluations as well as a Welcoming Lecture for all participants.

The Camp will feature Skill Development sections, lectures on nutrition, game psychology, team practices, and 5-on-5 games.

The next 5 players to integrate the FIBA Americas Elite Squad will be announced on August 11, during the last day of the Camp.

“The first three Elite Camps were a huge success in Campinas, Buenos Aires and Mexico City, with young talent from our CONSUBASQUET (South America) Sub-Zone, COCABA (Central America Sub Sub-Zone) and now we are ready and happy to bring the YDP experience to our CBC (Caribbean) Sub Sub-Zone. We thank the Puerto Rico national federation and sports authorities in the country for their commitment to FIBA’s mission of developing and promoting basketball while bringing people together and uniting the community.”, said FIBA Americas President Carol Callan.

“We are very proud to continue the implementation of the Youth Development Program Camp, a key strategic program to enable elite youth in the Americas. Our goal has been to use the resources of the regional office to help in the identification of young talent and then to enable these players to maximize their potential always with the mindset of going back to represent their countries at the biggest of stages. We are committed to helping the national federations grow and giving opportunities for these young athletes from 10 national federations in the Caribbean to develop is a priority in our strategy. The future is now.”, said the FIBA Americas Executive Director, Carlos Alves.

The Youth Elite Camp falls under the umbrella of one of FIBA Americas’ Key Pillars, the Youth Development Program that has the following objectives:

• Seek and Develop the Elite Young Players in the Americas with a view of 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 Identifying the Talent

The Program, that will be executed through individual camps and development of young talent, 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.

Marcio Henrique Da Costa, Matheus Leoni Brito, Guilherme Carvalho, Daniel Ifedi Ferreira, Bruno Henrique Pedro, Tomás Allende, Federico Copes, Esteban Caffaro, Lucas Sigismonti and Mateo Bianchi, Esteban Roacho, Juan Pablo Camargo, Yahir Gael Bonilla, Gibran Jair Belmonte, and Aldimir Castillo were selected to the FIBA Americas Elite Squad from the previous three YDP Camps in Campinas, Buenos Aires and Mexico.

FIBA