Authored by Norman Brook, the Basket4Life Manual has been written to assist basketball coaches to facilitate positive youth development among Namibian youth (boys and girls) who like to play basketball. It has been developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), working in partnership with the Namibia Basketball Federation (NBF).
The manual seeks to promote sport as a tool for both positive youth development and the adoption of healthy lifestyles. The principles set out in this manual can be used by basketball coaches operating in basketball clubs/ teams who wish to promote the holistic development of their players or can be used by basketball coaches working in NGOs where sport is used specifically as means of reaching young people and developing their life skills. The manual can be used by coaches coaching youth under 20 years of age, but the content of the healthy lifestyles section has most relevance to the under 13 and under 15 age groups who are transitioning through adolescence from childhood to adulthood.
In addition to writing the manual, leading basketball coaches in Namibia have been been prepared to facilitate training using the manual to coaches and have been supported during their first training courses by a mentor.
Basketball4Life is a sister publication of Football4Life