Eight hoopsters make the grade

Of the 50 budding hoopsters that were part of the trials from across 14 states,eight boys and girls made the grade to join the academy...

Of the 50 budding hoopsters that were part of the trials from across 14 states,eight boys and girls made the grade to join the academy at Bradenton in Florida as full time scholars under the joint initiative of the Basketball Federation of India and IMG Reliance.

The selected girls include Pooja Ambistha,A Kavita (Chattisgarh),Soumya Babbar (Delhi),Barkha Sonkar (UP). Sanjeev Kumar,Dinesh Mishra (Chattisgarh),Satnam Singh and Ashiv Jain (MP) were selected from bunch of boys. These players,who are currently training in Bhopal,are likely to leave on August 28 just before the US semester at the IMG Academy starts on September 1. They will be accompanied on the trip by Ravishankar Pathanjali. The BFI has started the process of informing the parents and organising travel and other plans of the youngsters,said BFI secretary-general Harish Sharma.

Before this selection,50 boys and girls attended a two-day trial at Sanskriti School with the academy director Andy Borman and leading coach Dan Barto putting them under various drills to test their physical fitness,endurance and skills. Though these youngsters will be at the academy for one year,their stay may be extended depending on how they shape up. The academy will prolong their stay provided they do well in picking up the nuances of the game and measure up to the standards,said Sharma.

Talking to Sportline ,former India players Aparna Ghosh and Shiba Magon said the trip to the academy was useful. The duo had attended both theoretical and practical classes besides undergoing some drills to keep themselves fit. It was hectic but really useful, said Shiba,who also picked up few CDs to improve her coaching methods. I enjoyed their knowledge sharing sessions and I hope to put them to practice, added Aparna.

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