JR. NBA MALAYSIA PRESENTED BY DUTCH LADY PROMOTES ACTIVE LIFESTYLES TO YOUTH

- Expanded 2018 Program Includes Jr. NBA Coaches Academy Workshops in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu -

- Online Registration for Players, Coaches and Physical Education Teachers

Open Now at www.jrnba.asia/malaysia -

The National Basketball Association today announced the return of the Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls.  Presented by Dutch Lady for the fifth consecutive year, the expanded Jr. NBA Malaysia program is expected to reach more than 9,000 boys and girls from more than 200 schools nationwide in 2018. 

In partnership with the Ministry of Education Malaysia, this year’s program includes a series of Jr. NBA Coaches Academy workshops to provide on-court training, strength and conditioning, and basketball education to physical education teachers nationwide.  The Jr. NBA Coaches Academy will include stops in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu.

“We are proud to support Jr. NBA for the fifth consecutive year as a platform that ties in with our Drink. Move. Be Strong (DMBS) campaign, instilling the significance of proper nutrition and active lifestyles with the Malaysian youth,” said Dutch Lady Malaysia, Marketing Director, Consumer Dairy, Ramjeet Kaur Virik.  “As the leading milk brand in the country*, Dutch Lady is able to reinforce the positive benefits of milk as a rich and accessible source of protein and calcium through the Jr. NBA program, which also aids in muscle growth and bone strength, essential factors in ensuring the overall wellness and development of children.”

“The launch of the Jr. NBA Malaysia program in 2014 signalled our long-term commitment to local youth development,” said NBA Asia Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships Francesco Suarez.  “With the return of the expanded Jr. NBA Malaysia program for the fifth consecutive year, we continue building on our youth development initiatives to engage even more kids, coaches, and educators nationwide through basketball.”

“We continuously support the Jr. NBA Malaysia presented by Dutch Lady program, a joint initiative which has engaged and empowered thousands of Malaysian youth since 2014,” said Ministry of Education Malaysia Director of Sports Division Mehander Singh A.L Nahar Singh, Ph. D.  “Sport has the ability to shape future generations, instilling positive values which complement the essential lessons provided within classrooms.  With the return of the Jr. NBA clinics and Coaches Academy, we will help young boys and girls nationwide realize their potential, both on and off the court, and train over 1,500 teachers across 11 states as part of our commitment to promote basketball within the country.”

The 2018 program tipped off today with an open clinic for boys and girls at the IGB International School in Kuala Lumpur, and will run through August.  The program includes a series of clinics leading up to the selection camp on July 21 that will name the top 30 boys and top 30 girls advancing to the Jr. NBA National Training Camp from August 3-5, which will also feature 40 outstanding players selected by teachers from the Jr. NBA Coaches Academy.

The National Training Camp will culminate with eight boys and eight girls being named 2018 Jr. NBA Malaysia All-Stars and will once again be attended by a current player or NBA legend.  These standout campers will embark on a unique overseas NBA experience together with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia later in the year.  Last year’s Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia convened in Shanghai, China, and attended NBA China Games 2017, a live NBA game featuring the 2017 NBA Champions the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Jr. NBA program is free and open to boys and girls ages 5-14.  Players between the ages of 10-14 will be eligible for the top selection during the selection camp and National Training Camp.  Participants are trained in the fundamentals of basketball and learn about the importance of proper nutrition as well as the Jr. NBA’s core values of sportsmanship, teamwork, a positive attitude, and respect.  In addition to the presenting partner Dutch Lady, the event is supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia, official partner Gatorade, Spalding and Westports Dragons.  Astro is the official broadcast partner of the Jr. NBA in Malaysia.

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.  During the 2017-18 season, the NBA will reach more than 26 million youth in 71 countries through a variety of camps, clinics, skills challenges, league play and outreach events.

According to the South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS)*, with 50 percent of Malaysian children diagnosed with calcium deficiency, Dutch Lady will organize a series of activities in the upcoming Jr. NBA clinics to engage and educate Malaysian children on the importance of milk nutrition as part of their healthy diet to help address the low intake of calcium among Malaysian children.

“Through our partnership with Jr NBA program, we hope to harness the power of nutrition and physical activity to enable the future generation of active and healthy Malaysians,” Ramjeet added.

For more information, visit the official event website at www.jrnba.asia/malaysia and follow the Jr. NBA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbamalaysia.  For all things NBA, visit www.nba.com and “Friend” the NBA’s official account on LINE by adding @nba_global. 

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, set to launch in May 2018.  The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2017-18 season featured 108 international players from a record 42 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 1.4 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.

About Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad

Incorporated in 1963, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad (Dutch Lady Malaysia) is a leading dairy company in Malaysia. It is owned by one of the largest dairy cooperative companies in the world, Royal FrieslandCampina NV, a Dutch multinational dairy company.

Dutch Lady Malaysia was the first milk company to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in 1968 and the first to introduce Formulated Milk Powder for Children in Malaysia in 1988. Dutch Lady Malaysia, awarded as the Company of the Year 2014 by The Edge Billion Ringgit Club, manufactures and sells a wide range of quality dairy products for the home and export market, with all products enjoying a strong following in brands like Dutch Lady and Friso Gold®.

Through a unique collaboration between FrieslandCampina and four international research teams/universities, the South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS) study was commissioned to study the nutritional status and insufficiency thereof found to be present in South East Asian children up to 12 years old.

*Dutch Lady is the No. 1 brand in Liquid Milk category in Total Peninsular Malaysia based on Retail Index Service for 12 months ending February 2018 in Total Peninsular Malaysia (Copyright © 2018, The Nielsen Company (M) Sdn Bhd).

More information can be found on www.dutchlady.com.my.

About Royal FrieslandCampina

Every day, Royal FrieslandCampina provides millions of consumers all over the world with food that is rich in valuable nutrients. With annual revenue of 11.4 billion euros, Royal FrieslandCampina is one of the world’s five largest dairy companies, supplying consumer and professional products, as well as ingredients and half-finished products to the food industry and the pharmaceutical sector around the world. Royal FrieslandCampina has offices in 28 countries and almost 22,000 employees, and its products are available in more than 100 countries. The Company is fully owned by Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A, with 19,244 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium—making it one of the world’s largest dairy cooperatives.

For more information please visit: www.frieslandcampina.com.

About Drink.Move.BeStrong

Drink.Move.BeStrong is Southeast Asia’s first integrated activation and advocacy campaign which aims to cultivate an active and healthy lifestyle among children through play, sports and proper nutrition.  This campaign is founded upon the findings of FrieslandCampina’s South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) on nutrition in four countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam – to acquire an understanding of the nutritional status and dietary intake of children up to 12 years old.

The key findings show that high percentage of Vitamin D insufficiency among the children despite the amount of available sunlight, low levels of physical activity and 30-40% of kids are not getting enough of the right nutrition, regardless of age, location or income.

This multi-stakeholder, multi-channel campaign encourages children across the region to drink two glasses of milk a day and spend an hour a day on outdoor exercise.  This regional campaign offers a host of activities including the distribution of free milk cartons to schools, a dedicated health and nutrition education programme and Jr NBA camps.