Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Jason, your initiative has a great deal of potential & opportunity. I’d like to know a bit more about your plans to create a social impact when you go to Beijing and other destinations. The understanding of other cultures will naturally occur wherever you venture with your team but, could you accomplish even more beyond the celebration of the game with these other like-minded and passion-filled ballers from other nations? I think your effort also has a message of personal development and leadership. It seems like there could be an additional focus to your effort around developing emerging leaders – driving home the idea and importance of Leadership and leadership development on and off the court. I think you are onto a good idea creating a hoops squad that journeys around the globe and celebrates the passion for the game. I would couple that with another “lesson” from the game and create opportunities for cross-cultural discussions, exchanges, and teachings/curriculum around the bigger topic of being a leader – a look beyond the game. I hope this make sense? I think you have the makings of a BIG idea and I believe that you would be able to gain more momentum & support with a bit more development around it.

FYI, make sure to connect with Mark from H4H - he's got it goin' on and could be a fantastic resource for you!

Continued success, Jason…

Hi Jason,
Your heart is in the right place and we commend you on using the great game of basketball to bring people together in a postive way and bridge gaps in cultures. There is never enough of this and would like to invite you to contact our people working so hard to bring basketball and vital lifeskills to children around southern Africa. I am sure there are many lessons to be shared and learned. We currently have a great Japanese friend who is volunteering in the small city of Gweru, Zimbabwe who has been doing wonders for the game and children there and would be happy to connect you two. All the best in your endeavours.

Best, Mark

Mark Crandall
Hoops 4 Hope
hoops4hope@mac.com
www.hoopsafrica.org

Hi Jason,

wow, changemakers is a place to learn. I had no idea there was a basketball surge in Asia right now. Your project seems a good attention raiser for this sport in Japan. You seem to be concerned about gaps and wall between East Asian countries and problems that you feel have arisen out of post ww2 diplomacy, an lack of intercultural contact that you want to see fought by sport programs. Can you tell me a little more about that, i.e. what you think is behind that and why there are so little programs, as you say, like yours on changemakers and elsewhere? This is not history lesson, of course, but some background here would be much appreciated.

Jasper Nicolaisen
Free University Berlin
University Challenge

I appreciate your comments, Steve. My explanations of those two sections may have been a bit misleading. As for the timing of the project launch with the Olympics, I realize the project could begin anytime. This is just a matter of planning, setting up the web-site + competition, assuring necessary funds/sponsorship, etc. which will take approximately 6-8 months= 08/08 Olympics in Beijing. If I could do it sooner, I would consider it. But the logistics make the Olympics a perfect fit, in my opinion. I agree with your suggestion though.

Second, in terms of sponsorship, I believe I said I will try to keep the corporate sponsorship and "selling" of the project to a minimum. This doesn't mean to imply that I will try to build the project without any form at all. Rather I understand that I need to bring this project into partnership with corporations to push it along, so to speak, in its early stages. At the same time, I need to make sure I keep the focus on learning about different cultures (for the kids), and not about getting to wear a certain logo or drink a certain soft drink...all though it certainly helps encourage the kids. No disagreement there either.

As for Japanese companies, I have a few interesting local businesses that will add some new flavor to the sport. The wheels are turning. By the way, what were your experiences involved with here in Japan, if you don't mind my asking? I'm interested to hear about that.

Perhaps I need to go back and tweak those portions of my entry. I will reconsider the wording a little bit.
Thanks again for your suggestions, and I look forward to hearing more from you or anyone else on the board!

Gambarimashou ne (good luck to everyone).

Jason Hutson

Jason, I share your conviction that Japanese athletes will soon have an impact on the NBA, much as Japanese ballplayers have made their presence decisively known in Major League Baseball. And given the Japanese commitment to excellence in all arenas in which they participate, we can count on your being right.

I read your entry with two questions, however: First, I wonder if you really need the platform of the upcoming Beijing Summer Olympic Games to launch your efforts? Of course the Games will rivet world attention on many sports, including basketball, but I suspect that you've discovered an untapped national interest among the Japanese for greater participation in basketball that would exist with or without the Summer Games.

In additiont, you might reconsider your objection to any form of corporate sponsorship for LBC. I think that many Japanese companies would be willing to help underwrite the Project and do so in ways that wouldn't coop or distort the purpose that you intend for it. It's been my experience that Japanese corporations appreciate the value of supporting community activities, and that they do so without the specific intention of reducing these activities to unabashed marketing efforts for theselves. I admire your intent to keep the LBC pure, but I think that you can do so even with corporate sponsorship.

Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California