jdBASKETBALL and George Mason Return to India to with Raise Cultural Awareness through Basketball

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April 5, 2010

jdBASKETBALL and George Mason Return to India to with Raise Cultural Awareness through Basketball


MUMBAI, India, April 5, 2010—Three American coaches, including two George Mason University faculty members are returning to India as part of a U.S. Department of State Sports Initiative grant and cultural exchange program. Aimed at developing awareness of basketball in the country, JD Walsh, founder, jdBASKETBALL, Robert Baker, associate professor of sport management, and Craig Esherick, assistant professor of sport management, will hold combined coaching clinics and youth basketball camps throughout India. The trip is funded by an International Sports Initiative grant.

The grant, awarded through the SportsUnited Division of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will fund a multi-part plan meant to provide a formative experience in the lives of participating Indian boys and girls. During this trip clinics and camps will be held in Chennai (April 7-10) with Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and Bangalore (April 11-14) with Basketball Federation of India Men’s Senior National Team. Walsh, Baker and Esherick will provide direct instruction, cross-cultural exchanges and hands-on experiences for players, coaches and league administrators that will not only enhance skill development, but also broaden participants’ understanding of diverse cultures.

“The fact that the State Department has a program for grants to use sport on an international cultural exchange and development basis is recognition of sport as a cultural connection,” says Baker, who is also the director of Mason’s Center for Sport Management. “Our intent is to take the best practices of basketball leadership in the U.S. to India.”

Baker and Esherick have partnered with J.D. Walsh, a former college basketball player and coach who is also the founder of jdBASKETBALL. Having worked extensively in China and India, Walsh has traveled throughout India in the last three years teaching basketball, operating clinics and developing the sport. “Basketball has a unique way of connecting people together. I feel the game resonates with everyday beat of India and dance. Learning about the Indian people and exposure into the Indian heart has become my life’s work, and I am happy to be part of this program to expose more to this program.

During the clinics, the trio will teach fundamental basketball skills to Indian youth while simultaneously exposing them to American culture through the basketball experience. Coaches and administrators will learn how to run and market successful basketball leagues and clinics in India while coaches are also taught various instruction methods. The exciting tour will hilite the trio working with ndia’s Men’s Senior National Team in Bangalore and Head Coach Alexander Bucan.

“Basketball has become wildly popular all over the globe,” says Esherick, who was an assistant coach and scout for the 1988 U.S. Olympic basketball team. “We have a chance to help popularize basketball in a country that has not yet wrapped its arms around this sport. Our trip is also a great opportunity to exchange ideas about coaching all sports as well as to discuss best practices in sport management.”

Baker, Esherick and Walsh visited India in Nov. 2009, as the first part of the International Sports Initiative grant, holding clinics and camps in New Delhi and Kolkata. In New Delhi they were hosted by the New Delhi YMCA while in Kolkata the West Bengal Basketball Association hosted the trio. This time the group will be working with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu while in Chennai. In Bangalore, they will work with the Basketball Federation of India, the National Team of India, the National Basketball Coach of India and various local schools and clubs.

While in New Delhi previously, the group was pleased to receive a visit from U.S. Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer. Ambassador Roemer, whose children had participated in a clinic run by Walsh, played basketball with clinic participants and spoke to coaches and youth attending the clinic.

Baker, Esherick and Walsh have also identified 10 sports leaders to travel to the United States in summer 2010 to attend a Coaching Academy at Mason. During their time in Virginia, Indian coaches and administrators will receive instruction in sport management, participate in extensive interactive exchange with American sport officials and undertake an opportunity for coaching certification. They will stay in campus dormitories, learn from Mason faculty and take trips to various sporting facilities in the area.

About George Mason University
Named the #1 national university to watch in the 2009 rankings of U.S. News & World Report, George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., Mason provides students access to diverse cultural experiences and the most sought-after internships and employers in the country. Mason offers strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering and information technology, organizational psychology, health care and visual and performing arts. With Mason professors conducting groundbreaking research in areas such as climate change, public policy and the biosciences, George Mason University is a leading example of the modern, public university. George Mason University—Where Innovation Is Tradition

About JD Walsh and jdBASKETBALL
John David ‘JD’ Walsh is a former University of Maryland basketball player and founder of JD Walsh Basketball School. jdBASKETBALL has operated in 10 countries on three continents, reaching more than 17,000 youth around the world. His ‘Hoops for Health’ project with Chinar.org, an orphanage in Kashmir, won the 2008 Ashoka Nike Gamechanger Award. Since 2007, JDBASKETBALL INDIA has worked with the Basketball Federation of India and eight state basketball associations to promote the game of basketball in India. In the past three years, jdBASKETBALL INDIA has conducted more than125 clinics in 13 cities to more than 6,000 Indian youth, including the 2009 National Junior Championship in Mumbai.

For more information please visit his web site at www.jdbasketball.com.