November 2016 at PJB
/Basketball
FIBA Young Coach Certification Course
Between November 10th and November 17th PJB welcomed FIBA certifier, Seydou Sano, from Senegal to deliver the first phase of the FIBA Young Coach certification to all of our coaching staff. With 19 PJB coaches participating and 12 coaches from other teams within the community, over 30 coaches in Goma are one step closer to becoming internationally certified coaches.
Over 7 days coaches participated in lectures, on court demonstrations, and practical work with PJB in content areas such as adolescent development, practice preparation, basic kinesiology, and basketball fundamentals. Each coach now has their first phase complete, and PJB is already working with FIBA to have Mr. Sano return to Goma in the beginning months of 2017 to finish up the Young Coach certification.
Lights at Maison Des Jeunes
From a generous donation raised from a friend of PJB, we were able to install flood lights on the principle court located at Maison Des Jeunes. These lights illuminate the six hoops, allowing more time for PJB players to be on-court practicing, but 2 extra hours of programming will also offer more opportunities for Life-Skills and English classes.
Special Events
Thanksgiving
For the first time ever, the PJB staff came together to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. With two turkeys, four chickens and endless sides of potatoes, green beans, carrots, stuffing and gravy all 28 member of PJB staff were introduced to the American tradition. After the meal each person at the party was given the opportunity to share one thing (Or in some cases a couple) that they are thankful for. It was a great activity to learn more about each other as a team and family. Unlike in the USA, there was no football to be watched and big couches to fall asleep on after the big meal, but instead the PJB spirit showed strong as the music turned up and everyone enjoyed dancing into the evening.
Photo Days
In a new initiative, PJB has partnered with a USA based organization called the Memory Project. For this project we will create an exchange between our youngest players and a number of art students across the USA. This will be the first project undertaken by our new media team, and we are excited to create a cross-cultural exchange through art and media.
On November 23rd and November 24th our media team took pictures of all players registering for PJB for the upcoming year. These pictures will be used to create new PJB ID cards (which will be issued for the first time in 2017), to be given to the memory project, and and to enhance our website with player profiles.
Player of the Month
Riphin Shamavu
Team: Eagle DII
Riphin recently moved from the rookie team to the Eagle DII team where he has really stepped up as a leader. With his great enthusiasm and effort he has really improved as a player, but also a teammate. He is always on time and prepared to work hard for every practice and has been very successful in helping his team develop a sense of responsibility over their own learning.
