Dribbler Basketball Academy from Dubai are making their international debut this weekend as they tour Sri Lanka to play matches against school and club teams.
The three DBA teams – Under 12 boys, U13 girls and U16 boys – with 12 players each began yesterday and will take to the court each day in Kandy until tomorrow and then in Colombo from July 29-31.
Boys U16 captain Naveen Arukgoda of St. Mary’s Catholic High School is excited to be on the tour and attributes his improvement to the academy.
“I think it’s going to be fun, a different experience,” said Arukgoda, who hopes to one day play college basketball in the US. “I have been coming to this academy for a long time. All the coaches really helped me to become better player. I can see most of these other guys have become way better to what they were before. Everybody is passing the ball and playing well.”
In Kandy, the teams will play against Colombo International School, Kingswood, Trinity, St. Anthony’s Girls, Hillwood and St. Anne’s, and Kurunegala.
Later in Colombo, they’ll take on Royal College, St. Peter’s College and Colombo Basketball Academy, Visakha Vidyalaya, St. Joseph’s and Ladies College.
Founded in 2011 by ex-Sri Lanka basketball captain Sujith Croos, the DBA has grown from a small group of eight to now 100, comprising members from Sri Lanka, India, Egypt, Philippines and Pakistan.
“I always had a dream to become a coach so first I started free classes. After that I wanted it to become more professional, so I started an academy.” said 44-year-old Croos, who has played since the age of nine and has taken part in Asian Basketball Championships in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, India and the Philippines.
