RELIANCE FOUNDATION AND NBA ANNOUNCE MULTIYEAR PARTNERSHIP IN INDIA

- Jr. NBA Program to Promote Health and Fitness to Youth Through Comprehensive School-Based Program

MUMBAI, INDIA, October 11, 2013 – Reliance Foundation and the National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced a multiyear partnership to launch a comprehensive school-based youth basketball program in India.

The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program will promote health, fitness and an active lifestyle through basketball, and teach the values of the game such as teamwork, sacrifice, discipline, dedication and sportsmanship.  The program will feature a combination of in-school and after-school activities along with basketball competitions.

In the first year, the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program will teach basketball to more than 100,000 youth and train 300 coaches and physical education instructors to implement a turnkey NBA curriculum. Over the course of the long-term partnership, the goal is to reach one million youth and train 2,000 coaches and physical education instructors across India.

“We are excited to partner with NBA, the world’s premier basketball league, in transforming India’s basketball landscape. India has a rich reservoir of sporting talents and schools are the fountainhead where those talents can be identified and nurtured,” said Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita M. Ambani. “Through this historic association, Reliance Foundation looks forward to bringing the NBA’s world-class expertise and curriculum and taking Indian basketball to greater standards of excellence.”

The first year of the program will operate in more than 150 schools across Mumbai and Kochi from Oct. 14 to Feb. 8. 

“This is an important step in our commitment to grow basketball at the grassroots level and encourage a healthy and active lifestyle in India,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “Reliance Foundation is recognized for its tireless efforts to give back to communities, and we could not ask for a better partner to work with us to positively impact the lives of Indian youth.”

Reliance Foundation and the NBA will bring international coaches to India for three months in each city to lead three-day ‘Train the Trainer’ seminars that will teach the curriculum to local coaches and physical education teachers. 

All local coaches will receive a ‘Jr. NBA Basketball in a Bag,’ which contains resources for them to grow the game in their communities.  The bag includes an India-specific coaching guide with curriculum for in-school and after-school programs, nets, whistles, cones, air pumps and a Jr. NBA poster.

The international coaches will also support program implementation at each school where, ultimately, the local coaches and physical education instructors will conduct weekly basketball-led physical education classes for grades 4-10 in their schools.

In addition to the in-school portion, select schools will make their courts available four days per week for after-school basketball programs comprised of more advanced training and individual skills and team-based competitions.  These will include 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 competitions, and the top players and teams from each school will be selected to compete in a citywide competition. 

A Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA Hot Shot Competition will identify the best shooters in each school to compete in a citywide championship at the end of the program.  An NBA or WNBA legend will travel to each city at the end of the program to work with players and coaches.

In addition to working with schools, Reliance Foundation and the NBA will partner with community organizations in each city who are already conducting youth basketball programs.  These organizations will also make their courts available for Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA after-school programs for youth from local communities.  The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program will supplement youth basketball initiatives at these organizations by providing curriculum, equipment and invitations to send teams and players to citywide Jr. NBA competitions.

About Reliance Foundation

Reliance Foundation (RF), the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries Limited, aims to play a catalytic role in addressing the nation’s development challenges through innovative and sustainable solutions with its focus on five core pillars: Rural Transformation, Education, Health, Urban Renewal, and Promotion and protection of India’s Arts, Culture and Heritage. Smt. Nita M. Ambani is the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation and the guiding spirit behind the Foundation's ambitious vision of becoming the leading vehicle for social development, empowering the underprivileged and infusing social transformation in India. Reliance Foundation has touched the lives of over a million underprivileged across the country, reaching out to over 2,500 villages and various urban locations.

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters currently feature 85 international players from 36 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in more than 61 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which averages more than 42 million page views per day, more than half of which originate from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 445 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $225 million to charity, completed more than 2.6 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 830 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.