Adidas will serve as founding partners for iHoops, the youth basketball
initiative. The NCAA and NBA established iHoops to provide a structure and to
develop programs to improve the quality of youth basketball in order to enhance
the athletic, educational and social experience of the participants.
IHoops
will provide supporting services and programs for youth basketball players ages
6 to 18, their parents, coaches, officials and team and event administrators.
“With
today's announcement, we have laid a very solid foundation for achieving our
goal to improve the environment in youth basketball for boys and girls,
parents, coaches and officials,” said Kevin Weiberg, iHoops' CEO. “We
are pleased to have adidas and Nike join as iHoops founding partners,
collaborate with the key stakeholders in American basketball, and support the
efforts for the long-term good of the game.”
Board
members for the iHoops initiative include Duke University men's basketball
coach Mike Krzyzewski, NCAA senior vice president of basketball and business
strategies Greg Shaheen, NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, NBA executive
vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, NBA executive vice
president of social responsibility and player programs Kathy Behrens and
attorney and college basketball television analyst Len Elmore.
In a
statement on nba.com, iHoops said the addition of adidas and Nike as founding partners supports
the initiative's goal to create a coalition of key stakeholders including USA
Basketball, the Amateur Athletic Union, the National Federation of State High
Schools and its member associations, the major coaches associations and other
organizations that sponsor or support youth basketball programs.
“We
are excited to partner with the NBA and NCAA in bringing this program to
life,” said adidas vice president of global basketball Lawrence Norman, in
a statement. “This partnership is a part of our continued focus on growing
the sport by developing youth basketball in the
“Commitment
to sport and providing inspiration to athletes is at our core,” said Nike
vice president of global sports marketing John Slusher. “As a founding
partner of iHoops, we are excited to play a vital role in such a groundbreaking
program that will enhance the quality of youth basketball on and off the court.”
Active.com,
a division of The Active Network, Inc., was named the technology provider for
iHoops.com and will operate the website, which will launch this fall.
iHoops.com will facilitate communication and be a resource for players,
coaches, officials, parents and youth teams at all levels. iHoops.com will
provide skill-training curriculum, certification programs for coaches and
officials and the opportunity to register for events, tournaments and programs.
In addition, the site will feature instructional videos, player profiles and
highlights from tournaments.
