Three Indonesian teenagers, Angelica, Brian and Vanissa, could not hide their smiles after hearing they had been picked for the Asia Pacific basketball team for the upcoming 2019 Jr. NBA Global Championship, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, the United States, in August.

After showing off their skills and dedication at a two-day training camp at Pelita Harapan University in Karawaci, Tangerang, Banten, from Saturday to Sunday, Jr. NBA head coach Carlos Barroca announced on Sunday the names of 20 teenagers, 10 each for the boys’ and girls’ teams, who will represent the Asia Pacific team at the global championship. The 20 players were selected from 68 teenagers from 10 countries across the region, including Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, who were selected to participate in the two-day training camp.

Brian Leonard, a 14-year-old student from Bunda Mulia private junior high school, said being selected came as a huge surprise for him.

“I had a good time [during the camp]. I met new friends and experienced something new, despite the language barrier,” said Brian, who aspires to play in a professional league such as the NBA in the future.

Fellow Indonesians Angelica Jenifer Candra of Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta junior high school and Vanissa Renata Siregar of Jakarta 19 state junior high school said the chance to play at the world championship was the biggest opportunity they had been given in the sport.

Coach Barroca said he was not surprised three Indonesian had been picked to represent the Asia Pacific region, noting that the country’s youngsters played with plenty of passion on the court.

“In the last two years, I have seen the passion grow with more and more kids playing basketball with better skills and better attitudes. So, the talent that is coming from this country is no longer a surprise to me,” he said.

This year is the first time the Jr. NBA has brought together young talents, aged 13 and 14, from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region to train and compete together.

It will also be the first time an Asia Pacific team competes at the Jr. NBA Global Championship, which is being held for the second year from Aug. 6 to 11. At the inaugural competition last year, the Kansas City girls’ team from Missouri won the championship after beating the European team, while the boy’s category was won by Overland Park of Kansas after outclassing the joint Africa and Middle East team in the final.

Associate vice president of marketing partnerships for NBA Asia Jim Wong said his team was still exploring the possibility for an Asia Pacific talent scout program to become part of the annual Jr. NBA Asia program.

“What we want to do is we want to make sure we’ve done it right. We want to make sure we pick the right location, the right venue. It’s taken us a year to get this and make all those decisions, but we feel with the support of all the people here in Indonesia, the result was fantastic,” he said.

Wong added that Indonesia could possibly host the training camp again next year.

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