The City of Leeds Basketball Academy and Club, is excited to announce a new international collaboration with Palmer Trinity School in Miami Florida.
The two programmes have signed a cooperation agreement to engage in international exchanges, to benefit the athletes within their Men's and Women's basketball programmes. This will see selected Male and Female cohorts from City of Leeds Basketball Academy and our club programme, receive the opportunity to travel to the USA in November 2024 to train and play in the USA, experiencing a student athlete's life, and furthermore appreciating US history and culture. The COLBA and COLBC teams will also play in the Palmer Trinity Pre-season Tournament as they launch their 2024-25 campaign. This programme will also see students from Palmer Trinity take a visit to the UK, with a view to experience the British way of life, visit the sites of the Yorkshire region, and compete in an invitational tournament with select teams from around the UK.
Academically, Palmer Trinity is one of the top Independent Schools in Florida, whose basketball programme is led by Head Coach Manny Bloom, a long time colleague of City Of Leeds Director Matt Newby. The pair have worked together for close to two decades both in the USA & UK for Five Star Basketball Camps, and in the UK with Red Star Basketball Camps. Bloom has been a constant in the camps based in Leeds for over 10 years as Master Coach, lecturer and clinician.
Coach Newby was quick to identify the merits of the latest collaboration he has brokered for the COLBA and COLBC athletes:
"We always strive to create and generate the best opportunities possible for our young people to develop and grow, both on and off the court. In this instance we have a great platform to foster and develop a long term relationship, between two organisations with similar high order values and aspirations. The experiences and learning from such programmes is game changing in so many ways; for our players to be immersed in a new basketball environment whilst learning about US sporting culture and identity is fantastic. Furthermore, for our athletes to experience what it is to be a student in the US, and to understand the broader landscape and value of sports and academics is invaluable. On the flip-side, hosting the Palmer Trinity programmes in the UK is a privilege, and will give us the opportunity to show our guests the very best of Leeds and Yorkshire, from a cultural and historical perspective, and importantly a chance for our teams to match up on court and develop."
Manny Bloom, Head Coach of Palmer Trinity School's Basketball programme shared in Coach Newby's excitement:
“We are so happy to start planning our exchange between Palmer Trinity School and the City Of Leeds Basketball Academy in 2024. The experience for everyone involved will be a once in a lifetime for sure! The mix of basketball, host families, and site seeing will be awesome.”
Further details will be sent to our members in the coming weeks... Watch this space!
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