Young basketball players across Jamaica will have a shot at success this summer with continued sponsorship from quick-service restaurant giant KFC Jamaica.

This year, KFC has committed some $4.5 million in investment in the 2024 Jumpball Basketball Programme and the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA) Star Search Basketball & Life Skills Camp, two pivotal sporting initiatives aimed at nurturing the next generation of basketball talent in Jamaica.

Over 400 young male and female players, ages 8 to 18, are set to benefit from this generous donation as KFC Jamaica continues their decades-long support of basketball in Jamaica.

Andrei Roper, marketing manager for Restaurants of Jamaica, said, “Jamaica’s youth have always excelled at sports, in particular basketball. Over the years, we have witnessed the tremendous growth and impact of local basketball programmes such as Jumpball and Star Search on our young players, and we remain committed to consistently extending our support. We are excited to be a part of projects that are as dedicated to youth development as we are at KFC. We value our long-standing partnership with these programmes and appreciate their efforts in supporting youth education and basketball futures. Ensuring their continued growth is a priority for us.”

Through this partnership, KFC will encourage the young athletes to take full advantage of the expertise that will be made available to them by some of the best coaches available, while creating opportunities to secure their basketball and educational futures through scholarships to study and play overseas and even the chance to play basketball professionally at the highest level.

This year, KFC has contributed support packages amounting to $2 million in cash and $1 million in meal sponsorship to the JaBA Star Search Basketball & Life Skills Camp.

The camp will be hosted from July 14 to 19 at GC Foster College in St. Catherine. KFC’s cash support will assist in accommodation expenses for players and local and visiting coaches, transportation, training equipment, speaker and presenter incentives, and other costs for the 120 campers.

“We welcome the continued support of KFC because, without them, we could not deliver such an amazing opportunity to our campers. Through this partnership, we will continue to position our young players for the opportunity to grow and excel beyond borders. In the past, hundreds of our players have received scholarships to universities and high schools overseas, and we just want to continue doing that,” said Paul Gordon, president of the JaBA.

Jamaica’s longest-running basketball programme, the Jumpball Basketball Camp, has also benefited from a donation of $500,000 in cash and $1 million in meal support from KFC.

The camp starts in Kingston, with the corporate area camp running from July 8 to 11. In keeping with
In its tradition, the camp will move to other parishes, including St. Elizabeth, St. Mary, Manchester, St. Ann, and St. James, from July 26 to August 31.

Jumpball Senior Coach, Rohan Robinson shared, “We are grateful to KFC for extending support
to our program for yet another execution. We aim to make summer memorable for young
athletes and we could not do it without the help of KFC.”