SAN SALVADOR – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and INDES (Instituto Nacional de Deportes de El Salvador) today announced a multiyear partnership to bring the Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, to El Salvador for the first time.

The Jr. NBA El Salvador League will tip off in Spring 2020 and engage 720 boys and girls ages 13-14 from 14 cities across four regions in El Salvador. Participants in the 60-team league will be selected from a national qualifying tournament executed by INDES, which will reach more than 1,600 kids from 140 school, club and community teams in El Salvador.  The program will promote health, fitness and an active lifestyle through basketball, and teach the fundamentals and values of the game such as teamwork, respect, determination and community.

As an official partner of Jr. NBA, INDES will also host the Jr. NBA Coaching Academy clinic in Fall 2020, where 40 local coaches and physical education instructors will receive training from NBA Basketball Operations staff centered on the Jr. NBA curriculum.  Additionally, INDES will host a Jr. NBA camp with the top 100 youth athletes, which will see one boy and one girl be selected to participate in the Jr. NBA Global Championship Latin America Selection Camp in Brazil for a chance to represent Latin America in the Jr. NBA Global Championship in August 2020.  Details for these events will be announced at a later date.

“We are thrilled to partner with the NBA and Jr. NBA, as it will raise the level of aspiration of all our young athletes,” said President Ad Honorem of the National Sports Institute of El Salvador, Yamil Bukele.  “We want to strengthen our youth sports programs, including basketball, and what better way to do it than with the premier basketball league in the world.  Our athletes will benefit from this opportunity, which will serve their growth and showcase their talent.  I thank the NBA for trusting El Salvador.”

“This is an important step in our commitment to grow basketball at the grassroots level and encourage a healthy and active lifestyle in El Salvador and all of Latin America,” said NBA Latin America Senior Vice President Arnon de Mello.  “We look forward to working alongside INDES to bring the Jr. NBA program to El Salvador and positively impact the lives of youth across the country.”

During the 2019-20 season, the NBA and its teams will reach more than 60 million youth in 72 countries through league play, in-school programming, clinics, skills challenges, and other outreach events.  

About INDES
The National Sports Institute of El Salvador (INDES) is the governing body of sport in the country, which coordinates efforts with the State bodies, public and private entities at national and international level, in order to join efforts for promotion, development, training, specialization, technical and scientific research and development of physical and sports activity, as well as their medical care.  It is the institution that par excellence helps and provides economic resources to all national federations, in order to strengthen their efforts in terms of their development, competence and international representation. Founded in 1980.

About the Jr. NBA
The Jr. NBA is the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls that teaches the fundamental skills and core values of the game: teamwork, respect, determination and community.  The Jr. NBA is focused on helping grow and improve the youth basketball experience at the grassroots level for players, coaches and parents, and offers a free curriculum covering all levels of the game that includes 48 practice plans and more than 250 instructional videos featuring NBA and WNBA players.  During the 2019-20 season, the NBA and its teams will reach more than 60M youth in 72 countries through league play, in-school programming, clinics, skills challenges, and other outreach events.  The second Jr. NBA Global Championship, a youth basketball tournament for top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world, took place August 6-11 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla. For more information visit www.JrNBA.com or download the Jr. NBA app.

About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League.  The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in nearly 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2019-20 season featured 108 international players from 38 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.6 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.