SAULT STE MARIE TO HOST A 'SLAM ACADEMY' FOR THE 2017-2018 SEASON (SEPTEMBER-MARCH)
​
Slam Academy is a skill-based development program that will be running for two age groups:
​
-
Elementary school (Prep) (current grade 7 and 8 boys; born in 2004 and 2005)
-
High School (current grade 9,10 and 11 boys; born in 2001, 2002 and 2003)
Athletes will have 30 hours of training over the course of the fall and winter months.
Jeff Giovanatti (NCCP Level 3 coach) and Aaron Richards (NCCP Level 2 coach) will be leading the sessions. Jeff has had the privilege of working with Canada’s high-performance athletes for the past 13 years as a head coach or assistant coach of Ontario’s provincial teams, a Centre for Performance Coach, a lead coach for Ontario Basketball’s Mega Camps, as well as most recently being invited to work with Canada’s U-16 cadet team this past June helping them prepare both on and off the court for the FIBA Americas Championship.
Most recently, some graduating student athletes of Jeff and Aaron have:
​
-
Played for Team Canada (Jonah Fogg, 2014 U-19 Silver Medalists at the FIBA Americas lost to USA in finals)
-
Been recognized as a 2016 Ontario University Men’s basketball ‘All Rookie team’ (Anthony Iacoe)
-
Won a National Championship with the Brock Badgers and currently works for the NBA developmental academy in Australia (Nico Loureiro)
In addition to helping develop the game locally, Jeff has worked extensively with hundreds of current or former NCAA and CIS athletes, some of which include:
​
Cory Joseph (Indiana Pacers, NBA)
Nik Stauskas (Philidelphia 76ers, NBA)
R.J. Barrett (Montverde Academy, and current #1 Ranked player (by ESPN) in North America for the class of 2018)
Andrew Nembhard (Montverde Academy, and currently ranked #46 (by ESPN) in the class of 2018
Kevin Pangos ( point guard for Zalgrins of the LKL in the EuroLeague and Gonzaga’s (NCAA) all time leader in 3 pointers made with 313)
Anthony Bennett (Canada’s first ever #1 NBA draft pick and current member of Fenerbahce of the Turkish Basketball Super League and EuroLeague)
​
The intent of the program is to provide our local athletes with the individualized support that they need in their development to enhance what their team-based system already provides.
In a team sport such as basketball, many of the training and competitive opportunities that exist within a team’s season are focused on the development of the team unit. Often times, individual athletes at key stages of the Long-Term Athlete Development Model (LTAD) are not given the attention they need from their team coaches to focus on their development as an individual skilled athlete.
The training academy model is designed to provide athletes with an individualized training and development program that will maximize their growth as a skilled athlete over the long-term. The strategy is based on two fundamental factors of LTAD, periodization and calendar planning, which are used to design a plan for athletes and provide them with the resources they need to ensure they develop holistically as an athlete. The goal is for athletes to maximize their potential and attain the highest level of achievement possible (ex: continue to be a student athlete at the post secondary level).
​
​
Jeff and Aaron will be providing flexible training hours to try to complement and co-plan a schedule that best fits our 20-30 athletes. Our focus will be on:
​
-
Skill acquisition and development/enhancement
-
Speed and agility training
-
Decision making and playing out of ‘actions’
-
Sport Psychology
-
Co-Develop (with the athlete) an IPP (an Individualized Performance Plan) to identify strengths and areas for improvement
If you have a passion for Canada’s fasting growing sport, then this program is for you!
If you are interested or have questions please e-mail: saultsteelcityslam@gmail.com
​