Five of the country's top high school boys and girls basketball players will have an opportunity of a lifetime next week, when the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Basketball Without Borders program comes to The Bahamas for the first time.
On Monday, the NBA, along with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) announced the 66 players from 16 countries and territories who will compete in the ninth BWB Americas Camp. The camp will be held July 5-8 at Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium, and Nike will serve as the official partner.
The five Bahamian participants are boys Dominic Bridgewater, Samuel Hunter and Derryn Johnson, and girls Briontae Riley and Diondrea Nixon.
"It is really an honor that I was selected to compete in this year's Basketball Without Boarders camp right here in The Bahamas," said Bridgewater. "I am really looking forward to it. I'm looking to go out and compete against some of the top young basketball players in the world to see how I measure up against them. I'm familiar with the guys who will be representing The Bahamas with me, so that helps a lot. As far as on the court activity goes, I plan to just come out and play my game. Regardless of what tournament or what camp I'm in, my game never changes. I never try to do anything extra or get ahead of myself because of the moment. I think this will be a great opportunity and I really plan to learn all that I can from the players and coaches who are coming in for the camp."
NBA and FIBA players and coaches, including J.J. Barea (Dallas Mavericks; Puerto Rico), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks; Canada) and Sasha Vuja?i? (New York Knicks; Slovenia), will coach the high school campers. Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) legend Ebony Hoffman will join Barea, Powell and Vuja?i?.
Current NBA assistant coaches James Borrego (San Antonio Spurs), Jim Boylan (Cleveland Cavaliers), Darvin Ham (Atlanta Hawks) and David Vanderpool (Portland Trail Blazers) will also serve as BWB Americas coaches. Patrick Hunt (President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches; Australia) and Ronald Cass (FIBA Coach) will serve as camp directors for the boys and girls, respectively. Armando Rivas (Chicago Bulls) will serve as the camp's athletic trainer.
The campers will go through a variety of activities on and off the court, including movement efficiency, positional skill development, 5-on-5 games and daily life skills seminars focusing on health, leadership and communication. One boy and one girl will be named BWB Americas Camp Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the conclusion of the camp.

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