US coach excited by potential of local basketballers
Published:Friday | October 28, 2022 | 12:11 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Veteran American basketball coach Bob MacKinnon Jr says that he is optimistic about the future of the sport on the island with a renewed emphasis on the grassroots level to improve not only the skills of young players but also in life.
MacKinnon led primary school students in drills yesterday on Day One of a three-day basketball clinic organised by the United States Embassy at the University of Technology, Jamaica. The clinic which ends tomorrow will also involve high-school players. It will not only teach them fundamentals but also mental health and conflict resolution.
MacKinnon has coached at the collegiate and professional levels in the United States for more than 30 years and believes that, with solid foundation work at the grassroots level, the sport is poised to have its breakout moment of consistent success.
“I think we are, to be honest with you, at the basement of it. I think this is nothing but going up. If the grassroots can pick up, I think that Jamaican basketball can explode and get right to where you have your track and field and football programmes right now. I think basketball can be there,” MacKinnon told The Gleaner.
What is important in MacKinnon’s eyes is instilling a love for the game at an early age, as well as a suitable avenue from negative influences, something that he is encouraged by, based on the response of the primary and prep school students who participated in yesterday’s session.
“If these eight to nine, 10 to 12-year-olds level can pick up that love for the game, you never know where in the world it can take them. I think that it is important to dream big and I think that children should dream big and then work hard towards those dreams,” MacKinnon said “I love the enthusiasm and there is talent here. There are so many negative things out there and we can’t just tell children ‘don’t do this’. You have to give them healthy alternatives and I think sport is a healthy alternative.”
Jamaica Basketball Association president Paulton Gordon is targeting the clinics as the foundation to expand the reach of basketball at the youth level, in getting more primary and prep schools outside of the Corporate Area involved.
“We all know that we are not doing enough at the prep school level, at the primary level. This is an opportunity to expand the core of players in the pool. We have about eight to 10 schools in the Corporate Area who are involved in basketball and we want to expand that,” Gordon said. “The general strategy is to expand the number of primary and prep schools that are involved. Without that foundation, you don’t get the pool of persons you are looking forward to selecting from at the higher level. This is one of the initiatives that we want to use to establish that.”
It is those fundamentals that MacKinnon is excited to pass on especially to the high-school students, so that they can make their own journey to the professional level like former Jamaica College star Nick Richards who plays in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets.