At the end of October, participants of the Riga Basketball Excellence Development Programme will have a great opportunity to compete and gain new experience in the international competition series ‘Grind Session’ tournament in Rome ‘Bridge of Hoops’.
"Grind Session" is a competition series featuring elite-level U.S. high school basketball teams, as well as youth teams from various American, European and Asian countries. These tournaments are more than interesting games – they are a great opportunity for new players to prove their talent in an international audience, record their names in the clubs of NCAA coaches and scouts, as well as prepare for the next stage in their careers.
From 29 October to 1 November, the United States High School teams Lacore Elite Academy, South Central Prep, Southeastern Prep, Canadian team Fort Erie, Italian teams Olivia Milano and The Star Alliance, United Arab Emirates team Dubai and Rigas Ekselences Juniori will participate in the Bridge of Hoops tournament.
Latvian team will play three games with three U.S. high school teams
The Riga Basketball Excellence Development Programme is a new initiative implemented by Riga Municipality, Riga Basketball School in cooperation with the Latvian Basketball Association. Its main task is to help young basketball players reach their maximum athletic potential, while maintaining a close connection with the family and the Latvian basketball environment. Additional individual and mastery trainings, systematic health and load monitoring, support from physiotherapists and medical specialists, as well as mental fitness classes have been provided to the participants of the program. The training process will be adapted to the curriculum of mainstream schools to ensure balanced academic and athletic development.
In the 2026-2027 season, two teams of boys and two girls were formed within the framework of the Riga Basketball Excellence Development Programme. Rīgas Ekselences Juniori has successfully started the season in the Latvian-Estonian league, winning two games in three games. ‘Rīgas TTT Juniores’ competes in the Baltic Women’s Basketball League, ‘Rīgas Kadeti’ in the Ramirent National League, ‘TTT Rīga Kadetes’ in the 2nd Division of the Baltic Women’s League and in the 2nd Division of the Latvian Women’s Basketball League. Division.
The Riga Basketball Excellence Development Programme creates opportunities, in terms of young people - to use them!