Thaindian News

Washington, Feb 19 (IANS) Fourteen Indian basketball coaches are in the US on a 10-day tour as part of an exchange programme with the aim of improving standards and methods in India.

The visit is sponsored by the State Department and the National Basketball Association (NBA State).

The February 17-27 Sports Visitor programme begins in Washington, where the delegation will meet with US basketball coaches, work with young American athletes, participate in a basketball clinic with Special Olympics athletes, and engage in activities focused on teambuilding and injury prevention.

For the final days of their programme, the delegation will travel to Orlando, Florida to attend NBA coaching clinics and sessions surrounding NBA All-Star 2012, the State Department said.

This Sports Visitor programme marks SportsUnited’s second basketball exchange with India. In February 2011, NBA Hall-of-Famer George Gervin and six-time WNBA All-Star Katie Smith travelled to India as part of the State Department’s sports diplomacy programme.

As part of the programme, 42 NBA and WNBA players and coaches have visited 20 different countries since 2004, where they have conducted basketball clinics for thousands of young boys, girls and coaches.

Since 2003, SportsUnited, the State Department’s sports exchange programme has brought almost 900 athletes from 59 countries to the US to participate in Sport Visitor programmes.

Since 2005, SportsUnited has sent over 200 US athletes to more than 50 countries to participate in Sport Envoy programmes.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)