Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA National Championship sweeps a basketball wave across India

The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA National Championship Tournament swept across 14 cities in India and culminated in the national finals at the NBA Academy India in Delhi NCR with 56 teams participating across U-12 and U-14 age categories.

The  RF Jr. NBA National Championship engaged 6758 kids from 632 schools across U-12 and U-14 youth in 14 cities across India - Chennai, Kottayam, Mumbai, Kochi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Delhi, Aizawl and Jamshedpur. A total of 1689 teams participated in this tournament.

56 teams emerged from the city-level tournaments and got to travel to the NBA India Academy in Delhi NCR as they competed in the national finals.

Following are the winners of the national finals-

Along with the RF Jr. NBA National Championship Tournament, the RF Jr. NBA Program included two more features this year with the RF Jr. NBA Coaches Clinics and RF Jr. NBA RISE. The coaches clinic engaged 4056 coaches. It's come a long way from the NBA's Train the Trainers program a decade ago.

The coaches clinic included in-person and virtual clinics for the local coaches and PE teachers. The virtual clinics included Jay Hernandez, Assistant Coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Don Hudson, Senior G League Referee Performance and Development Advisor, Rodney Billups, Assistant Coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and more.

The RF Jr. NBA RISE has the NBA and RF offering additional training opportunities to select standout players in Aizawl and Chennai with 10 boys and 10 girls from each city participating in fortnightly weekend clinics throughout the year. They'll also be receiving complimentary basketball equipment to support their training and development.

The RF Jr. NBA program, and especially the national finals gave the kids an experience of a lifetime. The finalists wore jerseys with the NBA team's logos and competed in the NBA India Academy. This tangible brush with the pinnacle of basketball is something they'll carry with them all their lives.

The teams that were eliminated in the finals were inconsolable. I tried to cheer one of them up by reminding them that they were champions of their city and that this is just the beginning. There's a video by NBA India where they ask the kids what basketball means to them. It's touching and revealing how deeply these kids find an identity through basketball, where it's much more than a game.

As Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA has said, you can have all manners of technology and attractions around basketball. But if there's a ball lying around, most people still gravitate to it to shoot around.

For some teams and personnel, the NBA India Academy was something they had only seen pictures of. To get to play on those three basketball courts and shoot in the indoor stadium is something I myself sneaked out to do a couple of times a day during the event.

One of the parents, Hargobind Singh, father of Gurnoor Kaur from Phoenix School of Learning, Hyderabad, told me how the game has had a positive impact on the kids. “My daughter practices taekwondo and basketball. She used to play basketball in our society. Coach @ps.santosh.9 encouraged us to have her practice basketball more seriously if she’s enjoying it.” - @brarshu

“Schools and studies might focus more on individual success and competition. This is why good schools also focus on sports. Sports that teach the kids collaboration and competition. You get to make friends, rely on them, persevere, play with teamwork and discipline, and learn that nothing comes easy in life. There are no shortcuts to success.”

“Nowadays there are so many distractions. Khali dimaag shaitaan ka ghar ho sakta hai (Empty mind can be a devil’s workshop). But by playing basketball, kids channel their energy in a positive direction. Their eating habits improve, and they go to sleep early. Their time is mainly divided into studying and training.”

As Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA has said, you can have all manners of technology and attractions around basketball. But if there's a ball lying around, most people still gravitate to it to shoot around.

For some teams and personnel, the NBA India Academy was something they had only seen pictures of. To get to play on those three basketball courts and shoot in the indoor stadium is something I myself sneaked out to do a couple of times a day during the event.

There are more than a few basketballs on courts across India now with initiatives like the RF Jr. NBA Program. The game has just begun.