Six to eight Dominicans will be chosen to play in the first Americas Basketball without Borders camp to be held in Santo Domingo this summer. Participants are expected from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dominican national basketball team members, Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks), Charlie Villanueva (Dallas Mavericks) and Francisco Garcia (formerly of the Houston Rockets) together with Trevor Ariza (Houston Rockets) will share their skills with the players. The Basketball without Borders camps have also served for the NBA to recruit new players.
The event will take place at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic center Volleyball Pavilion from 15 to 17 August 2015.
The camp is organized by the Dominican Basketball Federation has the endorsement of the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Basketball without Borders is a NBA and FIBA global basketball development program. The program seeks to connect top local players with select NBA and FIBA players and coaches. As part of the program, the campers listen to motivational and instructional talks from star players, and then spend most of the time working on positional skill drills, while engaging in shooting and skills competitions and 5-on-5 scrimmages.
The participants, who need to be under the age of 18, are chosen by the NBA, FIBA and local federations based on player skills, leadership and dedication to the sport.
Two Dominicans took part in the camp in Argentina in 2013, along with 48 others from 15 countries in the Americas. Angel Luis Delgado was named Most Valuable Player of the All Stars Game held at the end of the 2013 camp, and Oscar Cabrera was second in the three points shooting competition. In that tournament, players from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands and Venezuela took part.