The trio from Guyana who were selected by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation to attend the Children of the World Camp in Istanbul, Turkey have recently returned from their nine-day excursion.
Junior basketball players Leonie Mentore of Linden, Andrew Williams from Plaisance and Youth coach from Berbice, Kirk Fraser were selected by the GABF June last for the camp which ran from August 24-31.
The camp, organized by Fédération Internationale de Basketball/International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Turkish Basketball Association (TBF) was hosted by the TBF for one male and female basketball player born in 1996, accompanied by a basketball coach under the age of 35 from all National Federations affiliated with FIBA.
Some 400 teenagers and 200 coaches from all over the world and Turkey attended the multi-national and multi-cultural camp aimed at improving their basketball skills through the practice of many “Team work and Team play” activities and games.
They also experienced the beauty of Istanbul, enjoyed Turkish cuisine, and watched FIBA World Championship games.
When contacted by Stabroek Sport yesterday via telephone, Fraser described the camp as a “great experience.”
For their basketball training throughout their stint, Guyana’s contingent to Istanbul was placed in a group with four other countries, namely Seychelles, Niger, Cayman Islands and Lithuania (Group Blue Three), provided with practice uniforms and assigned to a Turkish coach who coordinated their practice sessions.
According to Fraser, for the first three days at these sessions the youths focused mainly on defensive tactics and drills such as sliding drills, while during the next three days of training they practiced rebounding, free throw shooting, offensive drills, passing and catching and they were also involved in two-on-two and three-on-three games.
For Fraser and other coaches attending the camp, they were subject to other programmes such as ‘Coaches Review’ where they would share areas of weakness each coach observed in the players and were advised on corrective measures that can be taken to improve on these areas.
The coaches were also required to give solutions to what he described as “problem solving situations”, whereby coaches were given the simulation of a crunch-time situation. For example, with only seconds remaining on the clock they provided different angles their team can take to defeat the opposition.
In addition Fraser stated “We got a chance to review FIBA rules, learn some new warm-up drills and interact with coaches and players from other countries.”
He added: “This is a camp that should continue throughout the years… we got a chance to share our knowledge of basketball and in turn learn from the other countries there. All-in-all it was a good programme.”
