Dubai’s basketball players are shooting for a chance to win a trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas, to play alongside the top upcoming talent in the States.
Prestige Star Sport Academy (PSSA) is giving young athletes a chance to make it onto a team heading Stateside to play in front of NBA stars and American scholarship scouts, with a series of try-outs in Dubai.
Minjae Kang is one lucky prospect who has already booked his place on the plane. The 18-year-old student told Sport360 he said, “I’m hoping to get a basketball scholarship in the US so playing in Vegas should expose me to the scouts over there”. Kang, who has been Dubai-based for the last eight years added, “I’ve been training seriously for this for about four years and the dream for me would be to play in the NBA, but I’d just like to play pro overseas, maybe South Korea”.
Founder of PSSA, Dejan Kamenjasevic spoke on court at Dubai Sports World saying, “The UAE is brimming with unbelievable basketball talent and it is our pleasure to give the region an opportunity to present this to the big shots of basketball in Las Vegas. Our mission at PSSA is to encourage sporting dreams and aspirations and we are doing just that by taking a junior team to Las Vegas and giving them the opportunity to play against the best teams in the US.”
Kamenjasevic himself played top-level basketball in Spain before moving to Dubai and setting up PSSA. This is the most successful academy in the UAE, we can say that because of our growth over the last year. We work with a lot of schools and universities across the UAE. The Vegas opportunity is the first time any academy from the UAE has gone stateside for something this big. Our job is to train the kids so they’re up to a good enough standard to complete with the best in the US”.
The chosen team will take part in the three-week tour in July, which will see them practice and play basketball against the best teams in the US, as part of the prestigious Amateur Athletic Union Tournament.
Operating in over 30 locations throughout the UAE, PSSA offers high level coaching services and specialises in harnessing and nurturing sporting talent with the help of ex-pro players and basketball specialists.
For a chance to be a part of the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas PSSA will be scouting for the last few spaces at Dubai Sport World from until 25th May. Hopefuls can sign up via info@pssa.ae.