A team of young Belizean basketball players left Belize today for Cleveland, Ohio. That's where they will participate in the "Dru Joyce Classic" Youth Basketball Tournament.
Formerly known as the King James Tournament, now, it is known as the Dru Joyce Classic. It's still the same tournament where athletes under the age of 18 years compete against each other by NCAA rules.
The Belizean team is going there for its chance at glory, sure, but the more important objective is to put their basketball talents on display, in the hopes of catching the attention of the basketball coaches, scouting for talent for their college basketball teams.
This evening, before they left, 7News got a chance to speak with a few of the players, and their coach about the opportunity they're hoping to take advantage of. Here's what they had to say:
Coach
"This tournament is an NCAA regulated tournament certified by the NCAA. It is an opportunity where these boys get to be scouted by college scouts. Yes we're going to play to win but at the same time we're playing for scholarships. They are young athletes, in third form, fourth form and first year of junior college. As long as they have the age 18 or under, they are eligible to play in NCAA certified tournaments. In 2012, a coach Berney started this movement. He went and took teams two years in a row and there's been a 5 year gap that no team went to play for scholarships or been seen by scouts. I got the opportunity to take the online USA basketball coach gold license course. I've been a coach now for 15 years just adding to my professional development record and signed up the team. Myself, Rupert Brown and Darwin Leslie, we've been running the Belize Bank Bull Dogs and the Lighting Peace Basketball Foundation for over 11 years now. A lot of these young boys, we've pretty much been around them for the age of 14-15, now some of them are 18 and 17 so it's a great opportunity for them to be seen."
Paul Flowers, Team Member
"It is something that most of the athletes on this team have dreamt about. Practically most of their basketball careers. This is why we sweat, we want to get the opportunity to go out in the States and prove that Belize is where raw talent is and we want to be there in order to represent our country in such a way that most athletes don't have the chance to. The opportunity is somewhat a dream come true because if we get selected, we get to represent our country in school in the United States and play the sport we love so much since we were children."
Jahson Phillips, Team Member
"It's a perfect opportunity especially for me because I'm graduating from SJCJC so I'm moving on to the colleges. I wanted to do college in the United States and so this is a perfect opportunity for me to showcase my talent and hopefully get a scholarship."
Tavaun Lennon, Team Member
"We basically just have to go out, stay focus, execute our court status and we'll be fine."
This is the fourth time a team is leaving Belize to participate in this tournament.
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