In 1990s Charlotte, N.C., Sonya Curry made countless trips shuttling her three children to and from sports practices and games with her husband, Dell. On Wednesday, some 20 years later, two-time NBA Champion and league MVP Steph Curry stood next to his mother and spoke to a gym full of parents, coaches and children about the impact his parents’ commitment to youth basketball has had on his career.
The event served to kick-off the third annual Jr. NBA Week and also to launch two new properties — the Jr. NBA Coach App and the Jr. NBA Flagship Network. Curry and the Golden State Warriors hosted the event near Oakland — one of 30 such events across the country put together in conjunction with the Jr. NBA and the 29 other NBA franchises. The Jr. NBA is the youth development organization within the NBA that seeks to inform and lead parents and coaches to provide the best possible youth basketball experience for kids.
The app, developed in conjunction with NBA coaches and training staffs, provides guided workouts and drills that coaches can use to lead practices at any skill level. In addition to training players of all ages, David Krichavsky, NBA Vice President, Youth Basketball Development, said the app will also be an important tool for enabling parents and coaches to lead effective practices, especially for volunteer and first-time coaches.
“Whether you’re a coach teaching recreational kids who are picking up a basketball for the first time or whether you’re a pretty sophisticated coach who’s teaching at a high level, there’s tools and resources and practice plans for you. Really the entire landscape, from recreational players to those playing competitively on club teams and even high school coaches, we think will benefit from this tool.”
Part of the effectiveness of the tool comes from the buy-in of NBA and WNBA players and coaches, such as Curry. The app features more than 250 videos of NBA and WNBA stars running through drills and workouts developed by NBA strength and conditioning coaches.
“It’s a huge driver to have someone like Stephen Curry and his mom, who are members of our Jr. NBA leadership council, really support our programs and really get the kids excited,” Krichavsky said. “It’s a difference-maker to be able to really take advantage of our players, our coaches, legends of our game. They just create a level of excitement that is unparalleled…We absolutely leveraged the expertise of the NBA family to develop these resources specifically for youth coaches.”
In addition to equipping coaches and parents for success through the app, the Jr. NBA is also working to establish a strong pipeline of youth basketball programs around the nation. The first 15 organizations were inducted this year into the Jr. NBA Flagship Network — a program that seeks to promote and equip organizations recognized for top level youth basketball education and development. Per Krichavsky, these organizations are already reaching over one million young players.
“[These organizations] share our vision of how the game should be taught and played at the grassroots level,” he said. “And these organizations have committed to running their programs aligned with the highest standards of operation for youth basketball.”
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The mission of the Jr. NBA is to promote basketball skills education and also provide safe and healthy environments for children to learn and grow both on and off the court. The global program has already reached over 18 million youth in over 50 countries. Krichavsky believes that focusing on coaching can help the organization spread their values to the widest population.
“We believe that coaches are a huge leverage point when it comes to positively impacting the youth basketball landscape,” Krichavsky said. “When we reach a child, we’re impacting the experience for one person. When we reach a parent, we might be impacting the experience for a couple people, based on the number of kids in that household. But a coach, working with 10, 12, 20 kids — that’s a really critical audience for us. If we can make that coach an ambassador for us…then we’ll go a long way towards accomplishing our goals.”
That goal is to be a positive force in children’s lives and communities — achieved by equipping parents, coaches and local organizations with the skills and knowledge to create positive, foundational youth sports experiences. This mission is echoed by similar league-wide initiatives like NBA Cares and Hoops for Troops. Krichavsky and the team at Jr. NBA are part of the whole NBA’s commitment to the growth of grassroots basketball and positive societal change.
“We know the positive role that basketball can play in young people’s lives,” he said. “The way that it teaches life skills, the way that it builds friendships, the way that it promotes socio-emotional development, the way it promotes wellness…it literally can transform kids’ lives. It can bring kids and communities together in really special way. Our game is incredibly powerful in that way and we see it as a responsibility and a huge opportunity that we take advantage of to really drive positive change.”