The Why, Revealed: Meet the Rising Stars of the Diaspora Tour

Oct 10, 2026 ·

By Wayne Dawkins, Global Director, P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy Jamaica

In my last post I asked why Jamaican basketball talent keeps rising abroad while the game at home struggles to grow. I wrote about bridges, about the diaspora pointing its energy back toward the island. This week, the answer arrived in our registration inbox, one young player at a time.

With the Bronx stop of the Rising Stars Diaspora Tour one day away, the families who signed up have already told the story better than I could. They are coming from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, from Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut and the Delaware Valley. They play for more than 25 different schools. Most have never taken part in a P.H.A.S.E.1 event before. And nearly every one of them checked the same box: this player has Jamaica in their blood, and they want the world to know it.

Who's coming

Ages	Every age from 11 to 17, across all three age groups, with the biggest group in the middle: high school players aged 15 and 16
Boys and girls	Both, with girls playing in the 11–14 group
Where they live	The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut and the Delaware Valley
Schools	More than 25, from city public schools to some of the region's best-known Catholic and prep programs
New to P.H.A.S.E.1	The vast majority
Families	Several are bringing brothers together, including three brothers from one Bronx household

The fact that most of these players are new to us matters most. They did not come because they already knew P.H.A.S.E.1. They came because the word "Jamaica" was in the invitation.

And they are still coming. Registration is open until the doors open on Sunday, and we expect more players to join on the day, especially those finishing school and club games earlier that morning. If you have a player with a Jamaican parent or grandparent, there is still time: phase1academy.com/diaspora-tour-bronx.

Where they come from

The list of schools reads like a map of the New York basketball world. There are players from some of the region's best-known high school programs, from charter and public schools in the heart of the Bronx, from Catholic schools across the city and its suburbs, and even an online school.

Area	Schools
The Bronx	Evander Childs Campus, High School for Computers and Technology, Bronx Aerospace, Taft Educational Campus, Bronx Lab, Bronx Charter School for Excellence, Eximius College Preparatory Academy, Children's Aid College Prep Charter, Cardinal Hayes, Fordham Preparatory, Holy Child, St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Lourdes
Brooklyn	Canarsie High School, South Shore High School, St. Edmund Preparatory
Queens and the rest of the city	Molloy High School, KIPP College Prep, Democracy Prep, Rose Academy
Westchester	Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains), Salesian High School (New Rochelle)
New Jersey	Bergen Catholic, Northern Valley Regional, Ogburn Online School
Connecticut	Bunnell High School (Stratford)
Further afield	Delaware County Christian School

Our host school leads the way: more players have signed up from Evander Childs Campus than from any other school, a sign of what David Fonfa and Evander Childs Campus Basketball have built in their own gym. Close behind is a strong group from Canarsie High School in Brooklyn, a neighbourhood with deep Jamaican roots. Some families are driving hours to be here, with brothers travelling together from Bergen County, New Jersey and from the Delaware Valley.

These are young people with full schedules, school teams, club teams and AAU commitments. They are choosing to give up a Sunday to be seen as Jamaican basketball players.

Roots that run deep

Every family told us how their player is connected to Jamaica, and the answers show exactly why we said one parent or grandparent is enough.

• Born in Jamaica. Some players were born on the island and grew up in New York.

• Children of Jamaica. Many have a mother or father who was born there.

• Grandchildren of Jamaica. Just as many trace their roots through a grandparent.

Those last two groups are the heart of the tour. For a grandchild, the link to Jamaica may run through a grandmother's kitchen or a grandfather's stories more than through a passport. Some may never have visited the island. Yet their families still raised them to say, with pride, I am Jamaican. That is the connection the Diaspora Tour was built to honour, and to strengthen.

Other players have roots elsewhere in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. Most of them play in the Bronx, many at Evander Childs. We welcome them. Their presence is a reminder that the diaspora in New York is a Caribbean community, and that the bridge we are building can one day reach every island.

Only a handful of players already hold a Jamaican passport. Most of the rest are eligible but have not started. For those who want it, helping families understand that process is part of keeping the path open.

The why, revealed

When I wrote about why we started the Diaspora Tour, I described a gap: a diaspora full of talent and experience on one side, and an island doing more with less on the other. I hoped the next generation would want to cross that gap.

These registrations tell me they already do. Players from some of the strongest school programs in the region could spend their Sundays anywhere. They chose to stand up and be counted as Jamaican. Their parents filled in the form. Their grandparents' birthplace was the reason they qualified.

This is how the trajectory of Jamaican basketball changes. Not with one star, but with hundreds of young people in New York, Toronto, Miami, London and beyond who grow up proud of where they come from and decide to give something back. Some will play for Jamaica one day. Some will coach. Some will build courts, run programs or open doors for their cousins on the island. All of them will carry Jamaica with them.

On Sunday, at Evander Childs, we will meet them in person. Different cities. Same roots. Bigger opportunities.

Rising Stars Diaspora Tour — Bronx Sunday, October 11 · Hosted by Evander Childs Campus Basketball · 800 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY 10467 Registration is still open: phase1academy.com/diaspora-tour-bronx

Wayne Dawkins is the Global Director of P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy Jamaica.