GEELONG/DANDENONG (Basketball Without Borders) - The first-ever Basketball without Borders (BWB) Asia camp, held in Australia over the past weekend, was a great success.

Forty five boys from 17 countries descended on Dandenong Stadium in Melbourne's outer suburbs last Friday to attend the prestigious event. The campers made the most of the rare opportunity of learning from NBA and FIBA international players, legends and coaches.

Arguably the most popular person in attendance was 1995 NBA MVP and two-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, David "The Admiral" Robinson.

The camp tipped off with a life skills session, camp overview and press event.

The camp attendees were then taken through a skill development session, which was followed by an NBA Youth Camp, teaching key values of the game such as teamwork, leadership, respect and healthy living.

Meanwhile, Khris Middleton kept emphasizing the importance of hard work and persistence.

The second day began with another life skills session that focused on leadership, communication and the importance of teamwork in achieving goals both on and off the court.

Most of the NBA and FIBA players, coaches and legends then took time out for the NBA Cares Court Revitalization & Multicultural Clinic hosted at the Braybrook YMCA.

Day 3 saw the campers on court again with team practice and games in the afternoon. These activities were followed by a coaching clinic conducted by the NBA coaches in attendance. This provided local coaches an amazing opportunity to learn from coaches who are working with the world's best players on a day-to-day basis.

The final day of the camp was hosted at the Geelong Arena, home of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) Geelong Supercats. Day four was one filled with competition and real intensity opening with the team’s play-off games and finishing with the Boy and Girls All-Star games.

FIBA Development Manager - Oceania, Annie La Fleur was in attendance on day three of the camp and was impressed by the level of talent on display.

"It was fantastic to see the strength of the region and the ability of all the boys to work together as a team, despite only meeting a few days ago," said La Fleur.

The first-ever BWB camp in Australia was considered to have been a huge success by all involved and will pave the way for similar events in the future.

FIBA