BallinEurope recently received a pair of emails promoting events begging for a little attention, so call this your weekend BiE Public Service Announcements. (For the record, none of the following events or organizers are sponsors of BallinEurope.com. Just so you know.)
First up, in conjunction with its annual youth basketball competition in Groningen and FIBA, the Holland Nordic Basketball Tournament (HNBT) is offering coaches’ and players’ clinics April 2-4.
On April 2, it’ll be the “Post Clinic,” hosted by ex-NBAer Swen Nater; presumably, ol’ Swen’ll be talking about post play. Twelve slots are open for players to sign up. Trainers and coaches will be allowed to observe the training.
On April 3, the coaching matters begin. The “International Coach Clinic” features Nater giving a workshop on (guess what) “Play Post Like the Pros,” while former Virtus Bologna/Team Macedonia/FIBA Europe All-Stars coach Zare Markovski will be discussing “Development of Young Point Guards in Tactical Aspects.” Long-time BC Oostende coach Lucien van Kersschaever will also be addressing the huddled coaching masses on a topic to be named later.
April 4 sees Nater expound on “Offensive Plays against Zones”; Markovski speaks on “Building a Defensive Concept”; and Van Kersschaever contributes thoughts on “Motivation.”
The April 2nd and April 4th shows cost €15 to participate; the April 3rd forum is €28. Registration is open through April 1st. For more information, visit the organizers’ official site at HNBT.com or write rayonnoord@basketball.nl to register immediately: Provide name, date of birth and club.
Oh, if you’re interested in the actual tournament going on simultaneously next weekend, it’s basically wall-to-wall action from Friday through Monday with 12 teams facing off in pools of three, followed by a knockout stage. Confirmed clubs are Gloria Russia, Hamburg, Sabonis School of Lithuania, and hometown Flames Groningen; other nations sending teams include Slovenia, Poland, Serbia, Egypt, Denmark, and Estonia.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is proud to announce the addition of a powerful new sponsor and the concomitant renaming of its large-scale July youth tournament, now known as the “Cleveland Cavaliers Continental Cup.”
Cleveland will be playing host to what is certainly one of the area’s largest youth basketball tournaments in July. From July 1 through July 4, boys and girls teams at U14, U16 and U18 levels will compete against a varied field which already includes squads from Cyprus, the U.K., Ottawa, Toronto, St. Lucia, New Zealand and Singapore. There will also be cultural activities and such (read: totally a trip to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame) for participants on the two days before and after the competition.
Total cost of registration, regardless of team size, is $525. Registration for international teams closes on May 7th. For more information, see the Continental Cup official website or click here for a PDF version of the information prospectus.
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