Monday 12th December, 2016 – Castries, St. Lucia: Digicel and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that the top 13 boys and girls from the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Elite Camp in the British Virgin Islands attended an NBA game at Madison Square Garden in New York City featuring the New York Knicks vs. the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, Dec. 7. As part of the NBA experience, the boys and girls also toured NBA facilities, visited local New York City landmarks, and competed against a local youth basketball team.
The 13 boys and girls were selected by former NBA head coach Lionel Hollins, NBA Legend Robert Horry and WNBA player Skylar Diggins following their participation in the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Elite Camp in September, which brought together the best basketball players ages 17 and under from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. The Digicel NBA Jumpstart Elite Camp and trip to the U.S. are being shared with Digicel customers online and on mobile via the LOOP news app, and are being broadcast on Digicel SportsMax, which brings NBA fans closer to their favourite teams through its live coverage of the NBA season.
“Jumpstart is about giving the best young talent in the Caribbean the opportunity to achieve greatness for themselves, so it’s encouraging to see the level of dedication from the players,” said Digicel Group Director of Marketing Peter Lloyd. “The success of the programme comes in large part from the NBA’s level of professionalism and commitment and only two years in, the success has been unimaginable.”
“We are proud that the second year of the Digicel NBA Jumpstart program has been successful in showcasing our commitment to growing the game in the,” said NBA Vice President, Latin America Arnon de Mello. “Congratulations to these 13 boys and girls who had the unique opportunity to learn directly from NBA and WNBA players and coaches. I know that they had a fantastic time on their trip to New York City as they enjoyed the authentic NBA experience.”
Last year, Digicel and the NBA announced a multiyear partnership that will deliver live games and extensive NBA programming to almost 30 Caribbean territories through Digicel SportsMax and makes Digicel the Official Wireless Partner of the NBA in the region. This partnership also allows Digicel customers to get in on the action through a number of promotions that will be launched across the Caribbean.