Latin America will have its share in the important youth competition, in which hundreds of promises will be able to demonstrate their talent to the world

The NBA (National Basketball Association) will hold the first youth world championship for boys and girls between 13 and 14 years old, known as the Jr. NBA World Championship. The championship will be held from August 7 to 12 of the same month in a unique sports arena: the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, located near Orlando, Florida, United States.

Leer en español: Estos son los países latinoamericanos que estarán en el primer campeonato mundial juvenil de la NBA

Who will participate in such an important sporting competition?

Championship with representatives at a global level

The Jr. NBA World Championship will have two divisions: male and female, and each of these will consist of 16 teams. These 16 participating teams will be divided as follows: 8 regional teams from the United States (Northwest, West, Center, South, Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast), 1 team from Canada, 1 team from South America, 1 team from Mexico, 1 team from Africa and the Middle East, 1 team from Europe, 1 team from India, 1 team from China and 1 team from Asia-Pacific.

Latin America will have two teams participating in the Jr. NBA World Championship. In the case of South America, the men's and women's teams were selected after a training camp held in May 2018, in which children from 10 leagues of the NBA Jr. participated in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. In the same way, the male and female teams of Mexico were selected through the Jr. NBA Challenge program, held in Mexico City with more than 30,000 young people.

The competition system is based on two groups: one from the United States and one international. An 'all against all' will be played in the first phase, and then advance to a phase of 'individual eliminations'. Once these phases are completed, the winners of the United States and international groups will compete on August 12 for the grand final, known as the World Championship Game, as reported by the Jr. NBA World Championship on its official website.

That #JrNBAWorldChampionship FEELING! Congrats, Germantown Lady Panthers! pic.twitter.com/oTc1BZqT36

– Jr. NBA (@jrnba) June 24, 2018

The realization of this youth world championship is of great importance for basketball. "The Jr. NBA World Championship represents another significant step in our effort to get more involved in grassroots basketball. In addition to the great competition on the court, the tournament will show ways to promote the values ​​of our game and improve the health and well-being of young players", said Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, in statements to the tournament's official website.

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Not everything will be competing

The talented 13- and 14-year-old promises will be able to share different off-court activities with male and female representatives of American basketball. Dwyane Wade and Candace Parker are some of the ambassadors of the NBA and the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) that promote the championship and activities outside of it.

"Boys and girls will participate in off-court activities, usually with players and legends from the NBA and WNBA, which include life skills education, mental and physical health programs, as well as NBA Cares service projects", said Neal Meyer, vice president of the Association of Operations of the NBA of Europe and the Middle East, in statements collected by the EFE agency.

On the other hand, the competition will have the guidelines for youth of the NBA and USA Basketball, developed jointly to facilitate the positive accomplishment of the championship. These regulations standardize the number of matches that young people can play and rest appropriate for their age. Likewise, all coaches of the participating teams must be trained and must have a license.

The NBA takes a giant step forward in the promotion of basketball worldwide with this Jr. NBA World Championship. Similarly, the championship promotes the inclusion of different areas of the planet, which is essential in the social and sporting context of the United States and Latin America.

LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana
Translated from “Estos son los países latinoamericanos que estarán en el primer campeonato mundial juvenil de la NBA”