sharpshooters @ u-16

INTRODUCTION: The Pune District Basketball Association conducted its u-16 championship from June 30 to July 8 at the Deccan Gymkhana basketball courts.30 boys teams and 24 girls teams participated in the tournament with some clubs sending more than 1 team for the tourney.The tournament was named after Late Sanjay Nimhan.The Pune teams for the upcoming state championship to be held at Balewadi,Pune will be selected on the basis of this tournament.

SHARPSHOOTERS' PARTICIPATION: Sharpshooters participated in this tournament sending 5 teams in total i.e. 2 boys teams and 3 girls teams.The idea was to give exposure to players from the u-14 category as well since this kind of exposure goes a long way in building up confidence of the players.The teams were named A and B for boys and A,B and C for the girls in the decreasing order of their level.The club was on a high reaching the semi-finals of the u-18 tournament not so long ago.

                     Things, however,did not go so well for either of the boys or the girls teams this time.While the boys' B team and the girls' B and C teams got knocked out in the group stages itself,the A teams reached the knock-outs.

JOURNEY OF THE "A" TEAMS:

sharpshooters boys team

BOYS:The boys team was drawn in the group that included MPA(Modern Past Association) and Vidyanchal. MPA,the team that eventually won the tournament,brushed aside sharpshooters in the first match.Sharpshooters had to win the next match to move into the next round.And they did it in some style to thrash Vidyanchal to move into the knock-outs.In the knock-outs Sharpshooters beat St.Mary's to move into the pre-quarters where they lost to New Youngsters.

RESULTS:

Match 1 vs MPA (A)   - lost 15-49 (Rushikesh Pawar 11 points)
Match 2 vs Vidyanchal -won 50-9   (Rohit Pethe 20,Rushikesh Pawar 12)

Match 3 vs St.Mary's (knock-out)- won 47-43 (Rushikesh Pawar 17,Harish Gupta 13)
Match 4 vs New Youngsters(pre-quarters)-lost 21-32( Rushikesh Pawar 12)

GIRLS:The girls team was drawn in the group that included New Youngsters and Somans.They beat Somans not conceding a single basket and beat New Youngsters comfortably to reach the pre-quarter finals.
There they lost to Hoopers tamely and thus the journey of the club ended in both the segments.

RESULTS:
Match 1 vs Somans - won
Match 2 vs New Youngsters -won 36-15 (Roserachna Lakra 12)

Match 3 vs Hoopers(pre-quarters)-lost

Sharpshooters in action against Somans

                

SHARPSHOOTERS @ NBA CAMPS

Recently,two high level camps were conducted by the NBA(National Basketball Association) in the city within a span of a few days.Termed as "Train the trainer" and "NBA skills challenge",these camps focussed on coaches as well as the players alike.As usual,our club "Sharpshooters" participated actively in both these events and was amongst the largest respondents from the city.

TRAIN THE TRAINER: The National Basketball Association (NBA) hosted the 'Train the Trainers' programme at St.Mary's in Pune on June 11th and 12th., with some of the top basketball coaches from the city being part of the training session.The Train the Trainers programme, a part of the 2012 Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA basketball development programme in India saw in attendance numerous coaches for the two day session hosted by Troy Justice,Director of India operations, NBA.The two day programme featured on-court clinics and classroom sessions aiming to provide the coaches with additional training skills for the development of players from a skills and fitness perspective.The sessions also featured the NBA’s first-ever Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA India-focused training video. The 75 minute DVD, shot in India with local players, included videos illustrating fundamental skill development, advanced offensive moves, and fitness training. Each coach attending the ‘Train the Trainer’ session received a copy of the DVD.The attending coaches were also informed of the dedicated Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA microsite on NBA.com/India that will provide all coaches and physical education instructors access to videos, photos and other materials to reinforce proper training technique.Eban Hyams,an Indian origin cager,who has played throughout the globe,was also present along with Troy Justice.

TROY JUSTICE in action at the camp

SHARPSHOOTERS' PARTICIPATION: Four members from the coaching staff of our club attended the camp viz; headcoach Nickhil Sareen,founder member Anul Sareen,Sreekanth Ajaykumar and Shraddha Patil.Our coaches belief in the "leave no stone unturned" strategy for the betterment of the club saw them attend the event with great focus and enthusiasm.Such events are a great tool of motivation for the trainers and knowing so,even the Sharpshooters support staff attended the camp so that they could learn and implement the latest techniques and methods to prepare the current lot as well as the coming generation of players from the club.Sharpshooters had also attended a similar programme previous year and since then have implemented the coaching techniques mentioned in the camp.This year there were a few new additions to the techniques taught last year,which the club will start implementing in the near future.The camp just confirmed that the club is on the right path and it gave a huge impetus to the Sharpshooters coaches in their bid to make it the finest in the city.( please click on "read more" below)