RELIANCE FOUNDATION AND NBA EXPAND RF JR. NBA PROGRAM IN SECOND YEAR OF PARTNERSHIP IN INDIA

- Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA Program Promotes Health and Fitness to Boys and Girls through Comprehensive School-Based Program –

- Program expects to engage over 750,000 youth and train PE teachers at more than 1,000 partner schools across 8 cities–

MUMBAI, 2^nd September, 2014 – Reliance Foundation and the National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program, a comprehensive youth basketball initiative that applies the positive values of basketball to engage and impact the lives of Indian boys and girls, will expand from three to eight cities in 2014-15.  The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program focuses on inspiring youth to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle by integrating basketball into each participating school’s physical education curriculum.

The eight cities are Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi and Kottayam.  The program, which runs from September 2014 to February 2015, expects engage more than 750,000 youth across 1,000 schools.  Fifteen coaches will oversee the program and anticipate training more than 1,000 local physical education instructors as coaches over the course of the program’s second year.

On the occasion Jagannatha Kumar, Head, Reliance Foundation commented, “We are happy to announce the expansion of our Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program for the second year in succession and are confident that this initiative will instill strong values in the children in their formative years.  It is very gratifying to learn that the implementation and the start of the program is eagerly awaited not only by the children but also by their parents, as they too are looking forward for their children to excel in sports!  This program is also aimed at unlocking the aspirational energy of the youth in our country by allowing young upcoming talents to blossom. Further, this initiative will empower the youth to participate effectively in making this basketball initiative a great success.”

“The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program reflects our commitment to increase participation in basketball among the youth of India, and to promote a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Yannick Colaco, Managing Director, NBA India.  “The Reliance Foundation continues to be an excellent partner in this commitment, and we look forward to working with the children, coaches and educators from these eight cities.”