The Jr. NBA program in Asia aims to improve youth health and wellness and address growing inactivity by integrating basketball into the local physical education curriculum.

To all teachers, the Jr. NBA Coaches Academy Online welcomes you! Join these virtual sessions and learn how you can make your Physical Education lessons more dynamic and exciting for your students. Each level is designed to teach different levels of basketball so there's something for everyone!

PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES

The Jr. NBA program is free across all stages and is tailored with activities specific to the participating countries in Southeast Asia:

Learn More

CORE VALUES

TEAMWORK

We have each other’s backs. We work hard as a team; share celebration and defeat. We support each other, always believing that more is possible when we do it together.

RESPECT

We play tough but we play fair. We pick each other up on the court and treat others the way we’d like to be treated. We respect the game and each other, embrace different backgrounds and always remember that the game welcomes all.

DETERMINATION

We never give up. We shoot for the stars and when we rebound, we rebound with resilience. We know our futures are up to us and so we work hard to always advance our skills, both on the court and off.

[Pending]-Core-Values---Respect - corrected

COMMUNITY

Diverse and dynamic, we are one global team. Basketball is borderless - it connects us as friends and competitors, and provides opportunities to interact with and give back to our community.

TEAMWORK

We have each other’s backs. We work hard as a team; share celebration and defeat. We support each other, always believing that more is possible when we do it together.

RESPECT

DETERMINATION

We never give up. We shoot for the stars and when we rebound, we rebound with resilience. We know our futures are up to us and so we work hard to always advance our skills, both on the court and off.

COMMUNITY

Diverse and dynamic, we are one global team. Basketball is borderless - it connects us as friends and competitors, and provides opportunities to interact with and give back to our community.

Global
Championship

The Jr. NBA Asia program is now online! Everyone can participate in our virtual clinics across the region.

Don't miss a beat as our Jr. NBA coaches take you through skills and drills that you can do at home! Join our virtual challenges and you might just become the NEXT Jr. NBA Asia ALL STAR!

Jr. NBA Asia

1/5

The Jr. NBA program in Asia aims to improve youth health and wellness and address growing inactivity by integrating basketball into the local physical education curriculum. Since its launch in 2014, the Jr. NBA program has reached more than 18 million boys and girls across Asia, teaching the fundamentals of basketball and the program’s core values of sportsmanship, teamwork, a positive attitude, and respect (S.T.A.R.). The Jr. NBA Coaches Academy – the program’s government-supported train-the-trainers initiative which aims to further local development by establishing standards for how the sport should coached and enjoyed – has trained more than 62,000 teachers from 37,000 schools across 50 cities throughout Asia.

Jr. NBA Global Championship

2/5

The Jr. NBA Global Championship is a youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year old boys and girls teams from around the world. Qualifying competitions will tip off in January and run through June 2019, with the top 32 boys and girls teams receiving all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the Jr. NBA Global Championship in Orlando, Florida from August 6-11, 2019.

Jr. NBA Global Championship

3/5

In the US - the Jr. NBA will host eight (8) regional tournaments – Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast and West – during the spring and summer of 2019. The three-day tournaments will consist of pool play competition followed by single-elimination bracket play. Each team will be guaranteed a minimum of four (4) games.

Jr. NBA Global Championship

4/5

In other regions - the Jr. NBA Global Championship international competition structure varies by region. One (1) boys and one (1) girls team will advance from each of the eight (8) international regions: Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe & Middle East, India, Latin America and Mexico. See the International Regionals page for more details about international competition.

Jr. NBA Global Championship

5/5

Sixteen (16) boys teams and sixteen (16) girls teams will advance to play in the Jr. NBA Global Championship from August 6-11, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. The teams representing each region will be separated into U.S. and international brackets that include pool play competition followed by single-elimination bracket play. Winners of the U.S. and international brackets will play in the boys and girls championship games.

Additionally, youth at Jr. NBA Global Championship events will not only compete on the court, but will also participate in off-court life skills programming.

OUR COACHES

Carlos Barroca

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT BASKETBALL OPERATIONS

Carlos Barroca spearheads NBA's basketball development initiatives in Asia, which include training local coaches and players, executing grassroots programs and working with key basketball stakeholders across the region to grow the sport.

Barroca has more than 35 years of experience in the industry, having worked as a basketball coach, general manager, television analyst, and ambassador, largely in his home nation of Portugal. During the 2000-2001 season, Barroca served as the head coach of the Portuguese Basketball Federation and the national U-20 squad, and has joined the NBA's Basketball without Borders program as a guest coach since 2006.

Following his time on the sidelines, Barroca was appointed as National Director of High School Sports Program and selected as a member of the Supreme Council for Sports as well as the Olympic Committee of Portugal. Barroca also served as a consultant for Adecco, a Swiss HR company, S.A., where he promoted team building and motivation in corporate HR.

Natália André

Natália André has more than 13 years of experience as a basketball player, instructor and educator. A former professional player in the Portuguese Female Basketball League, André is a FIBA-certified coach whose held numerous coaching positions including roles the Sport Algés e Dafundo in Lisbon (2011-15), NBA Basketball without Boarders camp in Portugal (2013) and the women’s senior basketball team of Sport Algés e Dafundo (Lisbon) (2014-15). André has been involved with the Jr. NBA program since 2014, leading mass participation basketball training sessions throughout India for youth athletes and coaches alike. André now brings her unique brand of coaching to the participants of this year’s Jr. NBA program in Asia.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

View All FAQs

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents in Asia. The program also instills the Jr. NBA’s core values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude, and Respect (S.T.A.R.), while teaching the importance of leading healthy and active lifestyles. The Jr. NBA program is free across all stages.

The Jr. NBA program provides youth in South East Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore) the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities, for all to learn about Basketball and share their passion for the game, no matter what their level of experience is. Although the program structure varies across countries, here are some of the activities that the Jr. NBA offers:

• Clinics – 1-2 hours Basketball activities, for kids to learn about Basketball based on their age/skills level

• Country Camps – 1-2 days events, where participants take part in Basketball skills challenges and games. Top performing participants or invited athletes are selected to become Jr. NBA All-Stars and participate in further stages of the program.

• Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Selection Camp - a 2-day event that will feature top youth players from the region. The top performing 10 boys and 10 girls will represent Asia Pacific in the Jr. NBA Global Championship.

• Jr. NBA Global Championships – The Jr. NBA Global Championship is an annual youth basketball tournament for the top boys and girls teams from around the world. In 2019, the Championship takes place in Orlando, Florida, in the United States.

The Jr. NBA Global Championship features teams of boys and girls from eight U.S. regional tournaments (Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast and West) and teams of boys and girls representing eight international regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe & Middle East, India, Latin America, and Mexico).

View All FAQs