Thursday, April 12, 2018 – ST. JOHNS, ANTIGUA: Sixty aspiring players from Antigua and Barbuda will have the opportunity to showcase their talents when Digicel and the National Basketball Association (NBA), through the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Basketball programme, host several basketball camps across the Caribbean. The programme is now in its fourth year of partnership and allows Digicel to connect these aspiring athletes to the sport they love most.

Antigua and Barbuda will be represented by 45 boys and 15 girls in the under-14 and under-16 age categories who were selected following trials held on the island on March 18, by the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association.  The top sixty athletes will be competing against players from Anguilla, Montserrat and St. Kitts & Nevis in an intense two-day camp being held at the JSC Sports Complex in St. Johns, Antigua from April 14-15.

CEO of Digicel Antigua and Barbuda & Montserrat, Dwayne Tulloch said: “We are excited to have the Jumpstart Program return to the island.  Digicel’s commitment to the sport of basketball here in Antigua and Barbuda in now its 5th year of partnership with the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association. To have a program in place, seeking to develop our young talent, means that basketball has a healthy future. We wish all athletes the best of luck and we will be closely following all of the action this weekend.”

The camps are divided into boys and girls divisions, each consisting of two age groups – under-14 boys and girls and under-16 boys and girls. NBA assistant coaches, NBA international basketball operations staff and top Caribbean coaches, will lead the ballers through a variety of activities on and off the court including: individual player development; 5-on-5 games; life skills education and more. Each camp will also host a coaching clinic and carry out community programmes.

The top players from the under-16 boys and girls in each market will be selected to attend the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Elite Camp in Trinidad and Tobago from July 14-15. The NBA and Digicel will then choose the top 14 players from the Elite Camp – eight boys and six girls – who will be invited to participate in an authentic NBA experience in the U.S. later this year.

Digicel and the NBA signed a multiyear partnership in 2015 to deliver live games and extensive NBA programming to more than 25 Caribbean territories through SportsMax and the PlayGo app – making Digicel the Official Communications Partner of the NBA in the region. Watch all the live action now in the lead up to and during the 2018 NBA Playoffs as the regular season comes to an end.