MANAGUA (Nicaragua) – In a significant upgrade to FIBA Foundation’s Basketball For Good pillar, last month’s 2025 FIBA AmeriCup witnessed the launch of the first-ever Facilitator workshop.
Conducted from August 27 to 30, ten Basketball For Good Facilitators spanning eight countries across the Americas, were introduced to the newly created Basketball For Good Playbook that will enhance the efficacy with which they deliver social impact actions within their local communities and beyond.
What is the Basketball For Good Playbook?
The freshly developed Playbook is an innovative resource that provides recommendations for fun, play-based activities that educate not only about basketball, but also about relevant social issues based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Playbook comprises three chapters aligned with the key SDGs of Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Climate Action (SDG 13), as well as safeguarding and good coaching guidance.
Develop Multipliers
The initial group of 10 Facilitators was purposefully selected based on their prior experience and engagement as Youth Leaders and Mini Basketball coaches.
Country | Facilitator |
|---|---|
Barbados | Nakish Joseph |
Chile | Viviana Aguayo |
Chile | Francia Huerta |
Colombia | Yenny Pinilla |
El Salvador | Adán Escobar |
Mexico | Karina Ojeda |
Nicaragua | Hugh Cash |
Nicaragua | Norland Ramirez |
Puerto Rico | Norbert Irizarry |
Saint Lucia | Petal Brown |
It is expected now that these ambassadors will spread the Basketball For Good mission throughout the continent.
They will do this not only by applying the Basketball For Good playbook within their own countries and communities, but also by advancing the FIBA Foundation’s mission to educate, support, and connect the wider Basketball For Good community.
A further part of their role is to provide mentorship to the successful applicants of the Propose a Project platform and to contribute to the education of future Basketball For Good coaches.
Basketball For Good Jamboree
The workshop, conducted in collaboration with BBFG experts Sergio Lara Bercial and Guillermo Calvo, culminated with a jamboree featuring 60 boys and girls aged 8 to 10.
The festival was part of the local Basketball For Good project titled “Learn English, learn Basketball”, supported through FIBA Foundation’s Propose a Project platform, led by the Nicaraguan Basketball Federation (Federación Nicaraguense de Baloncesto).
The event allowed the facilitators to pass on their key learnings to an equal number of boys and girls, aged eight to ten, in a safe and inclusive environment. The kids were led through different stations focusing on varied basketballs skills seamlessly blended with health, equality and climate education.
Highlighting the significance of the Basketball For Good Facilitator program, Theren Bullock Jr, Head of FIBA Foundation said:
“This is an exciting new step for the FIBA Foundation. We are proud to have this inaugural workshop, providing these chosen facilitators with the tools to expand and strengthen the Basketball For Good Movement in the Americas. We look forward to replicating this model in other regions within the future.”
The aim now is to further enlarge the group of Basketball For Good facilitators across all five FIBA regions, ensuring broader reach and stronger impact.
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The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.
The FIBA Foundation believes that basketball has the power to empower, educate and inspire youth and facilitates this by implementing Basketball For Good projects around the world.
This initiative is part of the FIBA Foundation’s goal to contribute to the social legacy of FIBA Events, with this one taking place during the FIBA AmeriCup 2025.
FIBA