Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: Native basketball tournament readies post-COVID return
Native American Basketball Invitational returns in 2021 after ‘devastating’ decision to cancel
Monday, November 16, 2020
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – After a one-year absence because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Native American Basketball Invitational will return in July, showcasing indigenous basketball players from across the U.S., Canada and New Zealand at venues around the Valley.
The championship games will take place at the newly renovated downtown arena of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury.
The decision to cancel the 2020 tournament crushed organizers.
“We cried. We had tears when we had to cancel because we know how important the event is to the kids,” ” said GinaMarie Scarpa, founder and president of the NABI Foundation, which formed in 2002 to organize the event. “And then, of course, news stories started coming out about the cancellation and how devastating it was to our tribal youth across the country.”
It is another blow to a community that has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Native Americans are
5.3 times more likely
than the white community to be hospitalized due to COVID-19.
The NABI is considered the premier basketball tournament for indigenous youth, and was the first to become certified by the NCAA (2007), according to the organization’s
website.
While basketball brings the athletes – boys and girls ages 14 to 19 – together for the tournament, the NABI Foundation’s ultimate goal is to teach athletes the importance of education and provide opportunities through scholarships and the educational seminars. The program has provided more than $250,000 in scholarships.
During the invitational, NABI hosts a college and career fair. College scouts are on hand, and a training camp is offered. High school teams that participate can bring one freshman player for a free training camp and an educational youth seminar with guest speakers, who are often tournament alumni.
“We expanded our educational seminar to a full-blown educational youth summit,” Scarpa said. “We had 36 presentations in 2019. We had great speakers. So they really come to learn and we use basketball as a tool.”
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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