Scout offers chance for athletes to LEAP to success

(CNS): With a number of talented young players on the Cayman Islands national basketball team, one or two of them have a chance of playing for a living in the Spanish or Italian basketball leagues thanks to trainer, mentor and expert in the sport, Cory McGee (left). A scout and founder of LEAP, based in the UK, McGee says that local players certainly have the talent to play professionally but as they are not seen on the international stage they are not getting the chance to try out for key European teams. Here in the Cayman Islands to help bridge that gap, McGee told CNS that for the young athletes who have a chance of getting on a team, staying there is far tougher than the players can even begin to imagine.

LEAP, the programme founded by McGee, is not just about spotting talent and sporting success, it is also about preparing young players for the life changing experience of actually playing for a living. He also noted that the skills young people learn on LEAP can be used in other aspects of their lives even if they never go on to play professionally.

However, for those that want to make a living in sport, he explained there is a need for them to prepare mentally for the competitive nature of professional sport and the expectations of, as well as pressures on, players once they are part of league teams. He said these could be enormous and often even the most talented players fail to make the grade because they are not properly prepared.

“The goal is to educate players about thosepressures, the life changing experience and how to cope,” McGee said. “It’s not getting a spot on a team that is necessarily the hard part for talented players, it's keeping it.”

From TV and newspapers that they can’t understand because of the different languages, to not understanding what to buy in the supermarket or not being able to manage money or cope with the strict discipline of team life, even the most talented players can be brought down by what may seem like the simplest of things. McGee said that most professional coaches and managers pull no punches and are not interested in excuses or the fact that a player might be homesick. Before any young player can hope to survive in the professional leagues many will have to face a significant attitude adjustment.

Not surprisingly, young players yearn to play ball for a living, but McGee pointed out that while they dream of the game they never consider the realities of life overseas, far from home and under constant pressure to perform at their best for each and every game.  “Regardless of the level of talent, players need to adapt mentally before I can find them a contract,” McGee said.

Recognising the passion in a number of young local players, he says that with a little help there are members of the Cayman national team that could make it in Spain or Italy, which are the biggest basketball leagues in Europe. Although he has been working with the youngsters on the court for most of last week, he said that this week he will be in the classroom focusing on the areas which will, in the end, present the greatest obstacles to them becoming professional players.

“I can help them understand how competitive it is and what will be expected of them in what will be difficult circumstances and prepare them,” he said.  “No one can expect to step off the plane and survive without knowing what is in store.”

Having played himself in numerous European leagues and ten different countries, McGee has been sharing the benefit of his own experience with Cayman’s team, alongside Coach Voot O' Garro, whom he spoke of with enormous admiration and said he had done an incredible job with the national team. McGee said it was clear from Coach Voot’s passion and the effort he has put in that he wants his players to gain that valuable international experience playing overseas and to have their talent seen by a wider audience. 

McGee has worked for several years in the UK and has spent time in over 20 schools looking for youngsters talented enough to join the big European teams but also for those that have the right attitude and that can adapt.

Offering a unique opportunity for Cayman’s national players, Mc Gee said he hoped the youngsters would listen and learn while he was here before he could begin to secure contracts for some of them. “Dribbling and shooting hoops is only part of it; the rest is all about hard work, consistency, dedication and the right mentality,” he explained.

McGee came to Cayman as a result of the corroboration of a number of people, including Katina Anglin-Powery, who found McGee in the UK and persuaded Colin Anglin at the ministry and the local basketball association to bring him over and organise his visit to give Cayman’s players this unique opportunity.

McGee said so far he has been impressed with the local talent, and if some of the players can adapt, there are opportunities that at least a few Cayman players could seize. McGee said that LEAP’s motto is “Changing the world one dribble at a time” and he hoped he can help to do that here too.