(Seychelles News Agency) - A group of young Seychellois basketball players are participating in four days of training with two experienced former players of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the U.S.   

The Basketball Clinic, which was officially launched on Monday at the Victoria Gymnasium, is part of a collaboration between the United States, the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC), and the Department of Youth and Sports.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the principal secretary for Sports, Ralph Jean-Louis, said this programme is in line with the goal of the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports, to use sports as a mechanism for motivating youth to combat social ills.

"I wish everyone a very exciting week, where you will share experiences and learn as much for your development in this sport," he added.  

The American Ambassador to Seychelles, Henry Jardin, was present for the opening of the training and shared his excitement to launch this initiative in Seychelles.

"Sports is really one of the ways that brings people together and we are really excited to have such great sports envoys with great personal careers, experiences, and stories that they will be sharing with you throughout this coming week," said the ambassador.

Young basketball players are taking part in the four-day training. (Seychelles News Agency)  Photo License: CC-BY

The two former WNBA players who will be coaching the youth are Shay Murphy and Natosha Cummings-Price. Murphy is a former assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and also played for the San Antonio Stars, Phoenix Mercury, and the Chicago Sky, why Cummings-Price is a former coach of the Cameroon women's national basketball team.

"As a collegiate basketball coach in the U.S., I am hoping to be able to bring some of the Seychelles talent to the United States, but also to teach young players that despite your social background, it doesn't define your future and where you want to go in life," said Cummings-Price.

Murphy said, "We hope that this is a long term partnership where we will want to see Seychellois players in the WNBA and the NBA and even attain scholarships to put Seychelles on the map as well."

The chief executive of the SNYC, Albert Duncan, said that through partnership they decided to begin with a popular sport and eventually move to other areas.

"In our discussions, we saw that there is not much interest in women's basketball in Seychelles, where there are not many women's basketball teams and we hope that these two coaches can inspire more girls to join the sport," added Duncan.