THIS SUNDAY: Manitoba Male Centre for Performance Tryouts Announced for September 7 at Duckworth Centre

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7: Basketball Manitoba is pleased to announce the try-out details for the BOYS Basketball Canada/Basketball Manitoba Center for Performance training program for 2014-15.  This year the CP will have a 15U age group (eligible athletes are  born 2000, 2001, and 2002). This year's tryouts will occur on Sunday, September 7 at the University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre.

INFORMATION ON FEMALE PROGRAM TRYOUTS


All tryouts will occur at...

University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre, 400 Spence Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Male Tryouts - Born in 2000, 2001, and 2002 

• Sunday, September 7 -  3:00 - 6:00 pm

Decisions will be made after the above try-out and continue on into September to finalize the training group.  

Program Overview

The Canada Basketball/Basketball Manitoba Center for Performance Program is a regional training program that targets potential high level athletes and provides them with advanced training and experiences to help them develop into an elite level basketball player. The Center For Performance is the start of the National Team identification pathway.

Male athletes from Manitoba will be identified on an annual basis to participate in the Manitoba Region of the Basketball Canada Centre for Performance training programs. The program runs from September to December before pausing for the school season. There will be classroom sessions in January and/or February before the program wraps up leading into the 15U Provincial Team try-outs in May.  The program offers a highly qualified coaching staff trained with Canadian National Team curriculum.  

The program has a heavy emphasis on developing individual fundamentals and athletic abilities to prepare them for next level competition. Players receive education on sports nutrition, psychology, strength, agility and physical testing.  CP athletes also participate in special CP sessions with guest coaches from a variety of programs.  Past guest coaches have come from programs including the Canadian National Team, CIS and NCAA programs, and NBA skills trainers.

Tryout Notes 

• $25.00 tryout fee (cash or cheque payable to Basketball Manitoba) due at the first tryout.
• All players are to complete the proper tryout form - CP Tryout Form (PDF) either in advance or on-site at the first session.
• Show up at least 20 minutes before the first session to register.
• No preregistration required
• Basketballs will be provided at all sessions.
• Players are to come dressed ready to play! 
• Athletes are expected to be ready to attend both try-out dates as selections and cuts will be made after the first try-out and continue on to the second try-out.

Male Coaching Staff

Dan Becker has been an active player and coach for over 30 years at all levels of the basketball.  As a coach, Dan has worked with players at many different levels.  Most recently he lead the Manitoba 17U Male provincial team to a Gold Medal at the 2014 National Championships, this was Manitoba's first Gold Medal for a boy's program in it's history of the championships.  Dan has also assisted at the CIS men's level from 2000 to 2004 and then assumed the interim head coaching duties during the 2004-05 with the University of Manitoba Men's Program. Over this same time period, Dan coached a number of Basketball Manitoba's Provincial Teams at the 15U and 17U levels, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Juvenile Championships, and culminating with the Canada Games team in 2005. In 2004, Dan was an active coach in the Canada Basketball Centre for Performance Program and an instructor at the Nike All-Canada Camp.

From 2005 to 2010 Dan coached with Randy Kusano and the Oak Park Raiders Varsity Boy's Program winning two Provincial Championships and making five consecutive Final Four appearances. Dan has also coached the University of Winnipeg Collegiate Varsity Boys, Linden Meadows Grade 8 girls, and various WMBA teams.

As a player, Dan played his high school basketball at Fort Richmond Collegiate and then went on to play NCAA Division 1 basketball at the University of Colorado. After graduation, Dan continued his basketball career by playing 12 years for a variety of teams and leagues all over the globe playing in Spain, Israel, Portugal, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Finland, and Luxembourg.  Dan also played in the USLB, CBA, GBL, WBL, NBL, and the IBL...including stints with the Winnipeg Thunder and the Winnipeg Cyclone.

In the summer of 1991, Dan was invited to try-out for the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers of the NBA.  Dan's playing career also saw him represent Team Canada in the late 80's early 90's on various Student and Training National Teams including the World University Games in Germany and 2 Jones Cups in Taipei, Taiwan.

Currently, Dan is the Head Coach of the Basketball Canada Centre for Performance Male Program for the Manitoba region and the High Performance Coach for Basketball Manitoba.  Dan is also a Learning Facilitator in the new NCCP coaching education program.   He completed his NCCP Level 4 education at the National Coaching Institute in Winnipeg.  Dan is also trained in the new NCCP coursework at the Train To Compete, Train To Train, Learn To Train stages.

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Eric Sung has been highly involved in basketball development in Manitoba since 2006.  Currently, he is on the coaching staff at Oak Park High School with the Varsity Boys team. Most recently he lead the 15U Boy's Provincial Team to a 4th place finish at the 2014 National Championships after he served as an assistant coach on the 15U Male Provincial Team that won a bronze medal in 2013 National Championships.

His past coaching history includes being a head coach of the Junior Varsity Boys at Maples Collegiate and the 18U Chinese Universal Storm, which competed at the NACBAIT championships.

Eric graduated from Steinbach Regional Secondary School and played two years of college basketball at Providence. He currently works as the lead physical education teacher at Archwood School in the Louis Riel School Division and just completed his fourth season as an assistant coach with University of Manitoba Women’s Basketball Program.

After being involved with the Center of Performance program in 2013-14, Eric is excited to coach the province’s best young basketball players at the national level.

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Jon Giesbrecht has been coaching basketball since 2008.  Jon just completed his first year as an assistant coach with the University of Manitoba Men's Basketball program and most recently was on the coaching staff of the Manitoba 17U Male Provincial Team that captured it's first ever Gold Medal in our province's history in the summer of 2014.  In 2013, Jon co-founded the MBA (Manitoba Basketball Academy), an academy which focuses on skill and conceptual development for boys from the ages of 15 to 21.

Jon led the John Taylor Junior Varsity Boys to a Provincial Championship in 2014 and was named the 2014 Male Junior Varsity Coach of the Year for his efforts.

In the summer of 2012, Jon was a volunteer coach with the 15U Male Provincial team. In 2011, he took over as the John Taylor Collegiate Junior Varsity Boys Head Coach.  He has also been involved with the Winnipeg Elites, Winnipeg Thunder, and Kirkfield West Community Club.

Jon's coaching achievements include being named the 2011 WMBA Bruce Russell Coach of the Year, JV Urban 2010-2011 Provincial Champion (Assistant Coach), and 14U Club Provincial Champion (Head Coach).

Jon is a NCCP Introduction to Competition Advanced trained coach.

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Jon Lundgren was the head coach of the 15U Manitoba Provincial Team Program from 2010 to 2013 and led the program to 2 National Bronze Medals and 2 fourth place finishes at the Canada Basketball National Championships over his 4 year run.

Jon currently coaches the Oak Park Raiders and was named the MBCA AAAA Male coach of the year in 2011 after leading his team to the AAAA Provincial Championship.  He also has coached the Magnus Eliason Club Team.

Jon's coaching experience also includes stops as an assistant coach at the University of Manitoba from 2006-2008,  Head coach at Fort Richmond Collegiate in 2006-2007 where he won a Provincial Championship with the Junior Varsity Boys Program and then went on to coach the varsity boys in 2007-2008 before moving on to head coach the Gordon Bell High School Varsity Boys team from 2008-2010 while serving as an assistant at the Canadian Mennonite University Men's Program in 2009-2010.

Jon has served as a Regional Training Center and Center For Performance coach for a number of years, working to develop some of the province's best young talent and is a NCCP Level 3 and Introduction to Competition Advanced certified coach.

Jon Lundgren graduated from John Taylor Collegiate and went on to play basketball at the University of Manitoba before transferring to Trinity Western University where he would become one of the leading scorers in the Canada West Conference.

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