CHARLOTTE HORNETS’ MARVIN WILLIAMS TO COACH MALAYSIAN YOUTH AT JR. NBA NATIONAL TRAINING CAMP

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that Marvin Williams of the Charlotte Hornets will travel to Kuala Lumpur to participate in the Jr. NBA Malaysia 2017 presented by Dutch Lady National Training Camp and help coach young athletes from around the country vying to be named Jr. NBA Malaysia All-Stars on 24 July 2017.  The National Training Camp will be held at the 1 Utama Shopping Center from July 28-30.

As part of his participation in the camp, Williams will sign autographs and interact with fans.  The camp will also feature appearances by Atlanta Hawks mascot Harry the Hawk.  Fans of all ages can participate in free basketball games and enjoy a range of NBA experiences.           

“I can’t wait to visit Malaysia to help grow basketball,” said Williams.  “I’m looking forward to seeing another part of the world and training with some the country’s most talented young athletes.” 

“We are honoured to have an NBA player join our National Training Camp for the fourth consecutive year,” said Marketing Director of Dutch Lady Milk Industries Ashlee Ng.  “The presence of an NBA player as a role model will be beneficial to the Jr. NBA participants as they receive training on not just basketball, but also on the importance of good nutrition.  In line with Dutch Lady’s Drink. Move. Be Strong campaign message to encourage Malaysian children to adopt a healthier lifestyle, we will conduct a range of edu-tainment activities at the Dutch Lady engagement booth to educate Malaysian children and parents on the nutritional benefits of milk consumption in different occasions that are relevant to their daily active lifestyles.”

Williams, a 6’9” forward from the University of North Carolina, was selected second overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 NBA Draft.  After seven seasons with the Hawks, Williams played two years with the Utah Jazz (2012-14) before joining the Hornets at the start of the 2014-15 season.  Williams averaged 11.2 points per game and 1.4 assists per game to go along with career highs in rebounds (6.6 per game) during the 2016-17 season.

The Jr. NBA Malaysia 2017 presented by Dutch Lady culminates with the National Training Camp, which features the top 32 boys and girls participating in advanced fundamental skills training and exhibition games.  The National Training Camp finalists were selected from the top performers at the Regional Selection Camp in Kuala Lumpur.

At the end of the National Training Camp, eight boys and eight girls will be selected as Jr. NBA All-Stars and will embark on an overseas NBA experience trip with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia later this year.

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.  During the 2016-17 season, the NBA reached more than 18 million youth in 53 countries through its youth participation initiatives.  

In addition to the presenting partner Dutch Lady, the event is supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia, Spalding and Westports Malaysia Dragons.  Astro is the official broadcast partner of the Jr. NBA in Malaysia.

Fans can visit the Jr. NBA website at www.jrnba.asia/malaysia and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbamalaysia.  For all things NBA, visit www.nba.com and “Friend” the NBA’s official account on LINE by adding @nba_global. 

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2016-17 season featured a record 113 international players from 41 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com and the NBA App, which achieved record viewership and traffic during the 2015-16 season.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 1.3 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

About Royal FrieslandCampina

Every day Royal FrieslandCampina provides millions of consumers all over the world with food that is rich in valuable nutrients. With annual revenue of 10.3 billion euros, FrieslandCampina is one of the world largest dairy companies, supplying consumer and professional products, as well as ingredients and half-finished products to manufacturers of infant & toddler nutrition, the food industry and the pharmaceutical sector around the world. FrieslandCampina has offices in 32 countries and almost 20,000 employees, and its products are available in more than 100 countries. The Company is fully owned by Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A, with 19,487 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium—making it one of the world’s largest dairy cooperatives. For more information please visit: www.frieslandcampina.com.

About Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad

Incorporated in 1963, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad (Dutch Lady Malaysia) is a leading dairy company in Malaysia. It is owned by one of the largest dairy cooperative companies in the world, Royal FrieslandCampina NV, a Dutch multinational dairy company.

Dutch Lady Malaysia was the first milk company to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in 1968 and the first to introduce Formulated Milk Powder for Children in Malaysia in 1988. Dutch Lady Malaysia, awarded as the Company of the Year 2014 by The Edge Billion Ringgit Club, manufactures and sells a wide range of quality dairy products for the home and export market, with all products enjoying a strong following in brands like Dutch Lady and Friso Gold.  

Through a unique collaboration between FrieslandCampina and four international research teams/universities, the South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS) study was commissioned to study the nutritional status and insufficiency thereof found to be present in South East Asian children up to 12 years of age.

More information can be found on www.dutchlady.com.my.

About Drink.Move.BeStrong

Drink.Move.BeStrong is Southeast Asia’s first integrated activation and advocacy campaign which aims to cultivate an active and healthy lifestyle among children through play, sports and proper nutrition.  This campaign is founded upon the findings of FrieslandCampina’s South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) on nutrition in four countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam –to acquire an understanding of the nutritional status and dietary intake of children up to 12 years of age.  

The key findings show that high percentage of Vitamin D insufficiency among the children despite the amount of available sunlight, low levels of physical activity and 30-40% of kids are not getting enough of the right nutrition, regardless of age, location or income.

This multi-stakeholder, multi-channel campaign encourages children across the region to drink two glasses of milk a day and spend an hour a day on outdoor exercise.  This regional campaign offers a host of activities including the distribution of free milk cartons to schools, a dedicated health and nutrition education programme and Jr NBA camps.