Nelson Boachie-Yiadom Selected for Basketball Without Borders

By Sam Neter on August 11, 2016

England Under-18 Nelson Boachie-Yiadom has been selected for this year’s prestigious Basketball Without Borders Europe camp which will be held in Finland September 7-10.

This year, the 15th edition of Basketball without Borders Europe will be held at Finland’s Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja for the first time. The camp is the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development program that uses the sport to create positive social change in the areas of education and health and wellness. It is invite only and features 50 of the most talented players in Europe born in 1999 or later.

Campers receive top-level instruction on-court and participate in daily life-skills seminars focus

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Boachie-Yiadom said. “I’m honoured to be invited to Basketball Without Boarders and I will use this as an opportunity to improve and show my skills”

BWB Europe will bring together the top male players born in 1999 from across Europe to learn directly from NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and to compete against the best young players from the continent. BWB Europe will also include a Jr. NBA camp for local youth and NBA Cares community outreach efforts teaching the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle and the values of the game, including teamwork, integrity and respect.

Nike, a BWB global partner since 2002, will outfit the campers and coaches with Nike apparel and footwear.

Since 2001, BWB has reached more than 2,500 participants from 130 countries and territories, with 37 campers drafted into the NBA. Twenty-one former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the 2015-16 NBA season.

“Bringing Basketball without Borders to Finland for the first time marks the next step in our efforts to grow basketball across Europe,” said NBA EMEA Senior Vice President & Managing Director Benjamin Morel. “Europe continues to produce elite talent, and this camp will provide the next generation of European players with the opportunity to learn the game and the values it teaches, including teamwork, integrity and respect, from some of the best players and coaches in the world.”

“Basketball is experiencing huge growth in Finland, especially at the youth level,” said FIBA’s National Federation & Sport Director Zoran Radovic. “This is the guarantee that the successful performance of the Finnish national team will continue in the future. We look forward to seeing their talented young players and those from across the continent get the most out of this camp, on and off the court.”

The first-ever Basketball without Borders camp took place in Europe in July 2001. Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslav national team, reunited to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy. Since then, the NBA and FIBA have staged 45 BWB camps in 26 cities across 22 countries on five continents. More than 210 current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players have joined nearly 160 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to support BWB across the world.

In recent years, other English representatives at BWB include Carl Wheatle, Sam Japhet-Mathias, Josh Steel, Akwasi Yeboah, Jules Dang Akodo, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Luke Nelson, Tyrell Isaacs, Josh Ward Hibbert, Dale Francis, Devon van Oostrum and John Stewart. Stewart, Nelson and Steel are the only three to be named BWB All Stars since 2010.

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