3x3 - Girls play 3x3 in the Big Apple

NEW YORK CITY (3x3) - Basketball is nothing new for Jessica Villaplana, she played division one college ball at St. Francis College then switched to the University of Puerto Rico.  She would go on to play in the Puerto Rican league and national team. After her retirement, she coached a High school girls' team in New York City and started a girls' basketball program.

This past August she organised her first 3x3 tournament in NYC or more specifically in the Bronx at Orchard Beach. The event was only for girls', they had ten High school teams of three to four players come and play.  This enabled her to use the FIBA 3x3 digital platform to register players for the global network due to be ready next year.

 

Organizer's Profile

Name/Surname: Jessica Villaplana Studies: St. Francis College & University of Puerto Rico Current activities: An attorney at her law firm "Molina Villaplana Colon and Baker LLP." and is also the Vice President for the Board of Directors on behalf of the nonprofit organisation "Community League of the Heights".

To watch an interview of her 3x3 tournament click here.

How did you go from being a professional basketball player to organising 3x3 events?
Jessica Villaplana: I actually played basketball for a while, last year I came out of retirement and played for the summer in Puerto Rico but it wasn't like a constant thing so I'm actually an attorney in New York City.  For the last ten years I had coached High school girl basketball, AAU in the United States then I took a year off or more like a break from basketball because unfortunately it kind of gets ugly with the politics from girls basketball and the whole competition. So basically I was a little burned out from being involved in that. Then I met a consultant in sports and we started talking about the future of basketball, the demographics plus the population of players in New York and then the whole 3x3 came about. So I was very intrigued by it because of course growing up you play that and everything. I liked it because it was something new to be part of, it definitely caught my eye and I liked the idea of it being an extreme sport.

I've always liked the idea of being part of something else, something big where not everyone else is involved in. A new culture can be cultivated out of it and it's not as ugly as the AAU part of it and I looked up how it was and how it went during the Youth Olympics last year in Singapore. I've been doing a lot of researching, reading about it and following it so in turn I got very interested in it and in the end I decided to do a tournament. That's how I got in touch with the FIBA 3x3 team. Since I'm also affiliated with the Puerto Rican Federation, I attended the FIBA 3x3 workshop in San Juan and was able to get useful insights on how to run a tournament.

Does it feel motivating to start something new?
Jessica Villaplana: Yeah, for sure! I like planning things and being part of something at a different level. It's like being an entrepreneur, doing something that no one else has been doing here in the city. Then after the tournament everyone wanted to be a part of it, at first no one knew what FIBA was so this is also a great way to promote that. For these kids their drive is to play basketball and to get a scholarship to go to School, for the most part they are still a bit unfamiliar about this whole representing your country kind of thing. When I started the tournament in August people were like "oh this is new" , it also hit them that new dreams could be developed. Who wouldn't want to play at the Olympics, when people think of the Olympics they think of Lebron, Kobe so with 3x3 they can really aspire to reach that.

I really believe that 3x3 can become a very popular sport for girls, a typical High school girl sport. That should really get the people interested in it. What's also great about 3x3 is how anyone can win, in my tournament we had top state players and we all thought that they were going to win but in the end it was a team that you really didn't think was going to win. It really opens up the competitive level and anyone can win on any given day!

What in your opinion is the potential for 3x3 in the States and in New York City?
Jessica Villaplana: I think it's going to take a while, a lot a building and a lot of planning as well as people investing. Again if you have 3x3 in the spring and summer then basketball is very big with NCAA and AAU, so they're definitely going to have to get involved with this and show their support.  It's going to take time but I saw the girls enjoying it and people coming up and asking me "what are the rules" and stuff. Just like an extreme sport it will eventually spin off,  if you really develop in the grassroots and introduce it to the youth.  I'm thinking of starting a 3x3 clinic so that we can really start grassroots programs here in the States, that would be my next kind of project. I can see it being popular in the country, Hoop It Up is starting to get involved and that created a little buzz so now we need a bigger push form maybe FIBA Americas, I think that they have to do a big push for it to help support the Federations and everything.

What are the main challenges for 3x3 basketball?
Jessica Villaplana: In the summer it's really getting the teams, finding a good weekend. There are so many 5 on 5 tournaments going on at the same time. It's also a matter of getting the sponsorship to lower the costs for the teams. Like I mentioned it's really a conflict,  so to speak, because the players are either travelling or they're going somewhere else to play ball like at popular events such as Dyckman . The weather also changes a lot and I know for myself I really wanted to have the event outside near the beach. Those are the type of challenges for 3x 3 in New York City especially during spring and summer. If you want to do it during the winter then you have all of the players playing in their school teams and we don't have warm weather all year out like in California.  Bur for sure eventually it will catch on, it's coming and it's not going away.

How do you feel FIBA should help promoters such as yourself organise 3x3 events?
Jessica Villaplana: Not only do they have to find the right sponsorships but also advertise it a lot, getting the media involved is certainly a big thing for this. For example ESPN has so many channels they could probably show a couple of events on TV. This sport is really intense and competitive, there's no doubt that there would be a big enough audience for 3x3.  I also think that FIBA gained a lot of vital experience with the 3x3 Youth World Championship in Rimini this year. I think that now they have a clearer vision of what works and what doesn't, now they just have to tie it in and share it with all the organisers so that we can make 3x3 successful. But it's been moving at a very fast rate, I'm actually surprised at how fast it's been moving. I also know that FIBA Americas and USA Basketball are working hard to find a person to work on 3x3, that tells me that it's growing fast and that we're going in the right direction.

Where do you see 3x3 basketball in the States and the world in ten years' time?
Jessica Villaplana: In ten years I think it's going to be very competitive, maybe not as much in the States as compared to Africa and Asia where in my opinion it will become a really popular sport. I think that people who aren't interested in 5 on 5 will change to 3x3 because some players might not like running and playing full court, or sitting on the bench. The players who are more individualised will have another option with 3x3, so that way you'll get more participation. By then I could see it becoming an NCAA sport because of scholarships and things like that. If the NCAA makes it a collegiate sport and offers scholarships then that's when it will become a very popular sport in the US.


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