Montserrat's Summer School Brings Basketball to Kids

PLYMOUTH (Montserrat) - The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports along the Montserrat Amateur Basketball Association, set forth their traditional annual Summer School Program, with the intention of continuing to develop sports and culture in the island’s youth.

The project includes not only basketball but also football and cricket activities — these two sports are extremely popular among the country's youth. Children of the ages of 7 to 14 are participating in three weeks of sports activities that give continuity to their national development programs during the summer academic recess.

The camp takes place in the Sports Complex, where every day there are two training sessions for each group of 12 participants — one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

“During the three sessions in the week we will teach different elements of basketball,” said Association President Gilmore Williams. “It’ll be at a beginner’s level, which will include an introduction to the game, aspects, and fundamentals of the offense and defense, dribbles, passes, shooting mechanics and team tactics. We’ll play some games to develop their psyche and team ideology.

The federation’s leader explained that the program seeks to fill a gap that exists in the youth development program, which didn’t start until participants were 12 years of age.

“The camp fits perfectly within our island’s development system because our program starts in secondary school, ages 12 to 19,” said Williams. “The camp allows them to have all the skills they need when they arrive at the secondary level so that they can continue to progress in our youth program.”

Williams stated that Montserrat usually includes some youth players for their international commitments with the senior national team, which is why the federation’s structure is building the base of young talents as a step forward.

“The youth camp is necessary because we're trying to make kids start playing basketball at an early age so that when they grow up it’ll be easier to guide them through the youth basketball system, the U19, the senior category, etcetera,” concluded Williams.

FIBA