Executive Business Plan

Jamaica Basketball Development, Inc.

The following is the Executive Business Plan of Jamaica Basketball Development, Inc. The plan outlines a vision for serving the basketball student-athlete demographic in Jamaica.

Mission Statement

The mission of JBD Inc. Kids First Foundation is to enrich the lives of Jamaican basketball student athletes, by providing life development skills and opportunities to further their educational development through the game of basketball. It is the goal of this organization to assist student athletes in becoming valuable and valued contributors to their communities.

The Organization

JBD Inc. Kids First Foundation was formed by a group of former Jamaican basketball athletes, who in realizing the tremendous experiences received through the efforts of others in our earlier years, are compelled and committed to repay this debt in the form of helping to develop others in need. The group brings a Broad depth of basketball experience as well as a wealth of intellectual capital. All members have participated in playing basketball at the college, Jamaica national basketball team and/or professional level, as well as possessing college under graduate degrees and Master’s level degrees. This further validates the organizations’ purpose and its belief in balancing achievements both athletically and academically.

The members of the Organization are sincerely committed to the development of Jamaican student athletes. This commitment has led us to develop a very comprehensive list of resources. These resources help to build the infrastructure that support development initiatives, basketball scholarships to institutions of higher learning and support mechanisms for student athletes during their academic years away from home.

The primary goal of the organization, in facilitating the development of student athletes, is to secure scholarships to colleges and high schools in the United States.

Over the past 7 years, we have been successful in securing scholarships for over 65 male and female student athletes. All have performed successfully both athletically and academically at their individual institutions.

As our Organization develops and becomes more mature, it is our intention to expand our vision of development for Jamaican student athletes, to embrace other student athletes from the Caribbean region. Our long-term strategic goals are inclusive of making Jamaica the central hub for basketball and life skills development in the Caribbean. This will be achieved over the next 2-3 years by transitioning the conceptual visions into tactical initiatives, to be delivered through expanding basketball and life skills development camps and camp activities.

Products and Services

JBD Inc. Kids First Foundation offers the opportunity for student athletes to develop their basketball abilities while helping to shape their character and better prepare them for life after basketball. This development is primarily delivered through the annual JBD Life Skills Development Basketball Camp held each summer in Jamaica. The camp is open to both young men and women between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. They are eager to learn the game and earn educational opportunities.  The Camp covers a one week time frame and activities include but are not limited to: structured basketball drills facilitated by qualified coaches and former professional basketball players, cardiovascular training, motivational presentations, lectures on the importance of academics, presentations on NCAA compliance, understanding the importance of teamwork and devotion sessions. Future camps will include presentations on simple financial management, cultural adjustments when living away from home (critical to scholarship recipients) and sports psychology. Our camp is the most highly anticipated basketball event in the country.  The response from the youth of Jamaica is exciting and inspires us to improve every year. 

  

The Environment

The basketball environment in Jamaica is laden with raw talents that demonstrate the passion and desire to improve their basketball acumen while advancing their academic development. Each year over 100 student athletes participate in the JBD Life Skills Development Camp with many more unable due to space constraints. This past year, 2007, there were approximately 140 youth who attended.  Basketball development in Jamaica is very much handicapped, largely in part due to the limited current knowledge of a game that has grown technically and tactically in its execution. Because of this, Jamaica is behind in the current methodology used and needed in teaching the game, putting us at a disadvantage to effectively compete globally. In addition, limited facilities and the high associated expenses to rent facilities, present a challenge in furthering the development of local student athletes.

The commitment made by JBD Inc to secure resources overseas and disburse them during the annual camp, has made a significant impact on the local recipients. In addition, it creates an overwhelming level of enthusiasm and anticipation each year for the camp. This we believe helps to sustain interest in the sport of basketball in Jamaica and gives hope to many who want to further their development academically.

Funding

As with any non-profit organization, JBD Inc faces challenges with annual funding. We rely solely on contributions from individuals and organizations to provide the much needed resources for our camp each year. Resources are also sought to help assist our student athletes while they are in the United States on basketball scholarships. On many occasions, members of JBD Inc personally provide financial support and housing to student athletes as needs arise.

As part of our continued strategic growth to strengthen our funding, we have aggressively pursued and acquired 501C-3 status. This has officially granted us a non-profit status in the United States. This further validates the legitimacy of our organization and its intent, as well as facilitates more aggressive sponsorship requests. Our EIN for verification is 25-1916890. Our ability to execute tactical initiatives against our long term goals are heavily reliant upon our ability to secure increased financial funding, as well as service in kind contributions.      

  

Competition

Currently, there are no basketball camps in Jamaica that provide the consistency and quality that the JBD Inc Life Skills Development Basketball Camp delivers each year. We are the only entity that has demonstrated the sincere commitment to the basketball student athletes of Jamaica, year after year. It is the only basketball camp recognized for its ability to realistically provide educational opportunities through basketball scholarships. This gives us a distinct advantage and high success rate, which translates into the best option for sponsors and their sponsorship contributions, to provide real value and impact in the lives of these young men and women.

3 Year Growth Initiatives

As we grow and mature as an organization, we intend on executing strategic initiatives that will increase our visibility, value add to a larger community and create more diversity in the products and services we deliver. This we feel will increase the value to you as a sponsor by presenting increasing opportunities for your brand visibility. Your sponsorship is critical to the full execution of our growth initiatives. The following reflects the key initiatives we intend on delivering over the next 3 years:

Life Skills Basketball Camp – in addition to the annual weeklong camp, we will add 4 mini camps that will target the rural areas of Jamaica. These camps will be held over a weekend and will comprise of similar life/basketball skill development. We have identified significant talent outside of Kingston, where the main camp is held, and we feel a sense of responsibility to give these young men and women an equal opportunity for development. We intend on hosting our mini camps in 2009.

A Pre-Season Team Camp – In addition to our mini camps, we would like to choose 8 High School basketball programs from across the country to a pre-season camp in the fall.  The camp will focus on education, community responsibility, sportsmanship, as well as athletic competition. This will be a first in the country of Jamaica.

Intra-Caribbean Expansion – We intend on embarking on a very ambitious task that will result in Jamaica becoming the hub for youth development. Our intention is to expand camp participation by inviting and subsidizing the cost for student athletes from other Caribbean islands. This we feel will create significant value through the diversity in cultural interactions, create exposure to different styles of basketball and generate significant interest across the Caribbean community with regards to our organizations ability to create opportunity and development. This will create significant visibility for you as a sponsor. We are presently seeking to extend limited invitations for the 2008 camp.

Products and Services Enhancements – Our prior camps have been mainly comprised of development for the student athlete. Beginning in 2006, we incorporated a coaching clinic as part of the weeklong camp. Our intention is to create a continuous learning infrastructure that is sustaining after our camp is complete. We have identified that there is a significant need for improved coaching techniques that will allow local coaches to continue the work started during the annual camp. Additionally we will expand to include referee camps to improve game control and allow the players to better understand the rules of the game more consistently. This will be a focus for 2009.

Scholarship Resources – over the next 2 years we intend on tripling our resource list of colleges and prep schools from which to provide scholarships for our student athletes. Our current list has a total of 30 prep schools and colleges, which we will expand to 90 by 2010. Additionally, we will create more geographic diversity in our expansion. Our current resource list provides for institutions that are predominantly east coast based. In addition to providing more opportunities for placing student athletes, we feel this will improve the cultural experience through demographic diversity.

The Kids First Endowment - We have established an Endowment that will allow us, as an organization, to provide academic scholarships to schools in the US and locally in Jamaica. This is our biggest endeavor to date and one that will have the most significant impact on the lives of academically gifted kids. We aggressively secured funding for our Endowment in 2008 and will have the ability to fund or subsidize tuition fees for the fall semester of 2011.  

As you can see, Jamaica Basketball Development Inc. provides a real value added service to the young men and women student athletes of Jamaica and plan on working even harder to expand and extend our value. We have a sincere and committed staff that is passionate about developing our fellow Jamaicans to become valued and valuable contributors to their communities. Our existence as an organization is purely on the basis of providing hope and opportunity to those who have the desire and determination, but need a helping hand. We are the only basketball organization that provides this level of developmental service and have consistently demonstrated our sincere commitment to helping young Jamaicans become even greater contributors to society.

Through our current and future initiatives, we provide the best avenue to achieve maximum value from sponsor donations and we administer it with the highest level of integrity and trust. We have consistently demonstrated uncompromising financial stewardship of the funding we have received over the years, and have ensured that every dollar and resource provided has positively benefited our student athletes. We have a life long commitment to developing the young men and women of Jamaica.  JBD Inc will not waiver from our vision, our mission statement and our commitment. With your help, we can continue to make dreams a reality by helping young men and women to develop a strong character and a sense of community.

“If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime”.

Sincerely,

Gary Henry

President

JBD Inc. Kids First Foundation

www.jamaicabasketballdevelopment.com