By Les Tan

Basketball fans will get to see some of Singapore’s best youth players in action in the adidas Nations League in 2009. Four teams will play a round-robin league in the first quarter of next year.

Furthermore, adidas will send two of the best players to China (May ’09) and the United States (August ’09) to train and compete with the best Asian and American ballers at the adidas Nations basketball camps. A further seven players from any of the four teams will also get to represent Singapore at the adidas5, a regional tournament scheduled for October 2009 in China.

(You may check out the experiences of Lin Shengyu and Calvin Chia, who were Singapore’s representatives to this year’s adidas Nations camp in Dallas back in August.)

The seven will also get to take in an American National Basketball Association (NBA) game while they are there. The seven players will be chosen based on attendance for training, attitude in training and performance on court.

Who will get to play in these four teams? The coaches of these four teams have announced their first round draft picks (see below) and players will find out which teams they will play for on November 15th at Catholic High.

More importantly, Red Sports also found out that the first round draft picks do not make up a full squad. In other words, the coaches need to draft more players.

On November 15th, players who are not named in the first draft will get a chance to make the second draft through a trial. Each team is expected to draft another 10 players each to make the provisional squads and they will be picked on the day of the trial.

There will be no further drafts apart from the one on November 15th. A final squad of 12 players will then be announced at the end of 2008.

Looks like youth basketball just got a little more exciting for next year.

The four teams and their coaches are:

Blacks (coaches: Wong Hwee Liak; Hsu Tung Ching)
Whites (Han Li Jun; Koh Meng Koon; Ian Chew)
Reds (Foo Kwang Hock; Joe So)
Golds (Ong Yao Kwang; Clement Lim)

Date of trials for second draft selection: Saturday, November 15th
Venue of trials for second draft selection: Catholic High
Time: 9:30am

Eligibility Criteria:
Age: 16-18 years old (born in 1991-93)
School team representation: Not required. You do not have to be a school player to try out for the second draft.
Nationality: Any nationality can apply, i.e., not restricted to Singaporeans or Singaporean permanent residents only.

If you wish to go for the trial on November 15th, please contact Hans Yeo of adidas Singapore at wh.yeo@adidas.com with the following information by November 14th:

name
school
position
date of birth

adidas nations basketball

Some of the coaches who will take charge of the four teams (from left to right): Koh Meng Koon (Whites), Wong Hwee Liak (Blacks), Foo Kwang Hock (Reds), Ong Yao Kwang (Golds) and Clement Lim (Golds). You’ll have a chance to impress them with your skills on November 22nd. (Photo courtesy of adidas Singapore)

The following players have made the first round draft:

Centres
1. Ang Wei Xian Anderson Junior College
2. Chong Ming Xuan Catholic High
3. Chua Soon Hua ITE Yishun
4. Driscoll, Scott Ngee Ann
5. Koh Chee Siang Temasek Junior College
6. Lim Boon Kiat ITE MacPherson
7. Lim Hou Hong Tampines
8. Low, Russel Wen Qiang Presbyterian High
9. Nair, Subhas New Town
10. Neo, Hubert New Town
11. Qingde Chung Cheng High (Yishun)
12. Kok Jia Cheng Ahmad Ibrahim

Forwards
13. Ang, Travis Chee Seng Ngee Ann Polytechnic
14. Barroga, Hans Chatsworth International
15. Liang, Kelvin Chee Wei Yuying
16. Lee Wei Yang Temasek Junior College
17. Leow, Chester Kai Jun Hwa Chong Institution
18. Loh Hong Sheng Hwa Chong Institution
19. Ng Wei Xiang Unity
20. Su, Jabez Ming Rong Catholic High
21. Tan Hong Kwang Temasek Polytechnic
22. Tan Wei Xiang Jurong West
23. Teo Kun You Seng Kang
24. Teo Liang Kai Anglican High
25. Wong Kam Seng Catholic High
26. Yap Kian Leong Ngee Ann Polytechnic
27. Yuen Wai Yao Woodlands Ring
28. Larry Liew, North Vista
29. Van Damme Ahmad Ibrahim
30. Chong, Raymond Kok Wai Presbyterian High
31. Sho Kuwata Overseas Family School

Guards
32. Chou, Colin Sheng Hua Chung Cheng High (Main)
33. Foo, Cornelius Shi ITE Clementi
34. Goh, Adam Zhong Jun Dunman
35. Lim Fang Qi Unity
36. Lim Wee Hoe Nanyang Polytechnic
37. Lor Wei Siang New Town
38. Low, Julian Wei Yang Victoria Junior College
39. Neo, Joshua Shin Hao Temasek Polytechnic
40. Ng Zhao Feng Gan Eng Seng
41. Pek Jia Rong Ngee Ann Polytechnic
42. Toh, Gerald Hong Da Seng Kang
43. Yong, Gavin Zhi Hong Yuying

Note: If your name is listed, please show up on November 15th, 2008 at the indoor court of Catholic High at 12pm. You will then find out which team you will play for based on the coaches’ selection.

All players selected will have to commit to training and be available for the league scheduled for February 2009. Details will be announced later.

Related stories:
Golds squad adds 4 players in 2nd round draft of adidas Nations basketball league
Whites to start training for adidas Nations basketball league this Saturday
18 bballers make the cut to secure second round draft places in adidas Nations League
51 basketball hopefuls for second round draft of adidas Nations League