Stand by Samson - A Young Man's Basketball Journey

Nine years ago, in October 2009, I chanced upon a basketball game at a local court. There was an Under-16 tournament underway. It was there that I first saw Samson. having just turned 13, he carried his skinny frame with the poise of an older boy, showing the much older players that be belonged with them. His languid, almost lazy gait on court betrayed his blinding speed. One moment, you are facing to defend him; the next moment he is at the rim, while you are left wondering what, not who, went by. His game was mesmerizing to watch, in stark contrast to his meek and humble demeanour off court. Something stirred me that day; I made up my mind that I was going to help this kid some day. 

Then in early 2014, I watched Samson lead the Mumbai team to a historic win over powerhouse and eventual champions, Punjab, at the 2014 Under-18 Nationals. I was watching him after nearly five years; now on a bigger stage. He and his game had matured. This wasn't the same little boy I had watched at Bandra YMCA.

It took some time, but I was finally able to put together the pieces, and in mid-2015 Samson enrolled in the first elite-level basketball training program in India, run by a close friend and mentor, James Mathews. Samson had now gone from a haphazard three-hours-a-week schedule to a rigorous four-hours-a-day regimen. It shocked his system.

In the three years since then, Samson has risen from an obscure player in the bylanes of Mumbai, to:

- Representing India at the Under-18 2014 FIBA Asia Championships in Doha.

- Leading the Mumbai University to a historic All-India University Championship in 2015. He scored 25 points in the Finals, taking home with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy for the tournament.

- Finishing as a top-10 player (out of several hundred) in the 2016 ACG NBA Jump Talent Hunt program.

- Leading his club and district to be runners-up at the Kerala State championship.

With all this hard work and achievement under his belt, Samson was ready to take the next step.

He has been invited to an invitation-only training program in the USA. The program will see him get assesses at the Sports Science Lab in New York, train with NBA skills coaches at the Athletes in Action centre in Ohio, and attend the Nike Pro Skills Camp, and Point Guard College Camp - two of the best camps in the USA. 

The goals are two-fold: 

I - Become the starting point guard for the Indian national team 

II - Earn a spot on a NCAA team in the US.

III - Become just the third Indian to play in the NBA G-League 

All this costs money; money that the son of a humble shopkeeper and homemaker does not have easy access to.  

At this stage, no amount is too small. We are reaching out to a select few people who, we are confident, will understand this journey, and want to be part of it.

Here's a quick update