For the second consecutive year, P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy has partnered with the prestigious Star Search Basketball and Life Skill Development Camp in Jamaica. The camp, which was started by Jamaican basketball pioneer Alphanso Remikie 21 years ago has been fundamental in developing basketball skills among the youth.
Founder and CEO of P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy, Wayne Dawkins said sponsoring this event is part of P.H.A.S.E.1’s mission to help support the growth and development of basketball at the youth level in Jamaica.
“With 140 athletes in attendance, it's a big undertaking and anything of that size needs additional support to help the athletes have the best experience,” he said.
He explained that P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy’s sponsorship involves providing all the young athletes with practice and training vests as well as providing access to the recruiting platform- Elite 1 Recruiting for data collection and scouting.
P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy is a proud sponsor of the Star Search Basketball and Life Skill Development Camp
“Star Search camp is a huge compliment to the work that we’re trying to do at P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy. We want to grow the game at the youngest age and help bring structure to youth basketball in Jamaica. If we could expose more people to camps like this, then more people would be willing to invest and support all our efforts in basketball for youth,” Dawkins added.
The four-day camp started on Monday, July 18, and is being hosted at the GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
Camp founder Remikie reports that the camp has been going well, and the young athletes are responding well to the workload. He expressed his gratitude to P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy for their support.
“P.H.A.S.E.1 has added tremendous value to the camp by providing uniforms for the campers and some support staff giving technical support. This all speaks volumes for the development of the sport through collaborative effort,” he said.
The camp is being held for four days
Meanwhile, Canadian coach Phillip Edwards said he’s enjoying his first time at the camp and is already making plans to return next year.
He believes the camp is a great gateway for athletes to start their basketball journey.
“Like all sports, there are some who are novice players and are here to accept training from the many coaches such as myself. There's a great team of old, young, and international coaches here to push the males and females to higher heights,” he said.
According to Remikie over the years, more than 70 students have received scholarships to attend school and play basketball in the United States.
For the past 19 years, KCF has been the camp’s title sponsor. Other associate sponsors are; the Sports Development Foundation, Rainforest Seafood, GC Foster College, Food for the Poor, and Jamaica Teas.