Six alumni from schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have reached one step closer to realizing their dream of playing in the NBA (National Basketball Association) and WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association), the world’s most recognized and prestigious basketball leagues for men and women respectively.
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These six students received scholarships worth Rs 18 lakh as part of 100% funding for admissions at the Corvuss American Academy in Maharashtra’s, Karjat district. This is an extension of the joint venture between the BMC and NGO Hi5 Foundation which ran the ‘Hopes Thru Hoops’ training programme to encourage student-athletes in the field of basketball.
One of the selected teenagers, 14-year old Anjali Pandey said that she has been playing basketball since 2015. “I want to become an NBA player. I love to do tricks while playing basketball and other drills that are core to the game,” she said.
Other students included for the scholarships are named Sneha Yadav, Kajal Kotekar, Laxmi Yadav, Suraj Gupta, and Prabhat Mishra. These six students have reportedly started their residential program at Corvuss last month.
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Geeta Gera, Manager (Systems and Operations) at Hi5 Foundation said, “We began the programme for BMC school children in classes 5 and 6. We started by conducting regular tests like sprinting, running and jumps to get a sense of their athletic prowess.”
“Once we identified these kids, we continued to work with them in terms of training and exposure, making them participate in state and national tournaments. All six students have the experience of playing in at least 10 to 15 tournaments by now. Pandey and five others have demonstrated the potential to become great players. They were chosen for the scholarship mutually by us and Corvuss,” she said.
Leena Pandit, Director (Marketing and Communications) at the Corvuss Karjat campus said, “US is the mecca for basketball. At Corvuss, we have an in-house college counsellor and nutritionist who will start working with these selected kids to ensure that they participate in right tournaments. There are sessions to help students improve their strength and conditioning for the game, apart from video analysis with coaches among other things. Post-completion of the high school, the children will be provided with assistance in applying for American colleges and scholarships for higher studies.”
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