Over the past two months Fernie Secondary School student Nesta Malcolm has travelled to Vancouver twice to compete against the top basketball players in the province.

In October 2018 Nesta received an invitation to attend the Adidas Top 40 Camp in March 2019. Camp Director Imad Qahwash wrote: “You have been scouted throughout the summer and high school season as one of the top players in the province. This camp recruits the Top 40 basketball players across the province in Grades 9-10 as of September 2018. The Top 40 Camp focuses on skill development and talent exposure.”

Following the Adidas Top 40 Camp in March, Nesta again travelled to Vancouver to try out for the U17 Boys Provincial Basketball Team on April 5 – 7.

“It was a long shot, but his performance at the Top 40 camp and his experience playing for Team BC U15 Boys last year indicated that it would be a valuable opportunity for him to be there,” said Tanya Malcolm, Nesta’s mother.

The opportunity didn’t arise without community support.

Malcolm’s Team BC tryout fee was funded by the Emily Brydon Youth Foundation. Air travel to both events was contributed to Nesta from two separate members of the community who understand the financial commitment required to become an elite athlete from a rural region of the province.

“A young athlete has the desire, the talent and a dream, when opportunities to achieve his dreams are presented, the boy or girl should be able to strive to the dream. When that youngster is a true outlier, living in rural B.C., a special effort is sometimes required. He must go!” says one of Nesta’s anonymous supporters.

The community support paid off! Nesta has been invited to participate in the 2019 Team BC U17 Provincial Basketball team as a development player, training alongside the best players chosen from the 90 who tried out last week.

“Nesta came into camp as an under-ager and showed that he could compete physically and fundamentally with some of the best basketball players across our province. We are looking forward to watching Nesta grow and develop his skill set playing against these top end players in a practice setting, while getting ready for competing for both Fernie Secondary, and hopefully Basketball BC U17 team in 2020,” said Team BC U17 Head Coach Joe Enevoldson, also the Manager of Male High Performance – Basketball BC.

Malcolm will be fundraising to cover the expense of travelling to Vancouver 10 times to train with Team BC between now and August 2019. If you would like to sponsor this young athlete to pursue high performance basketball training please contact his family.

Lead image: Nesta Malcolm heads up to the hoop in action earlier this year. Photos Credit: IG  @ShutterHoops

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