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Young East End basketball player meets his NBA idols

Sunday 5 August 2012

Sam Kato

(NASSA look up in awe at Team USA's Tyson Chandler)

Stars of USA men’s Basketball, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, invited one young East End local to watch them train at SportsDock - the University of East London’s £21million sports facility, and Team USA’s training camp for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Sam Kato, 12, who plays for Newham All Star sports Academy (NASSA), was selected along with his teammates to watch his idols train as part of Team USA and UEL’s commitment to Olympic legacy, and developing sports stars of the future.

Team USA, has been utilising the new £21million state of the art SportsDock at UEL to train, while enjoying an extremely successful Olympics to date.

Sam, who trains at UEL with NASSA, said of his opportunity: “It was really exciting and a great chance to meet the World’s best basketball players. This day will live with me for a long time, and it will definitely spur me on to keep playing basketball.”

UEL Docklands and Stratford campuses were chosen by Team USA to be their main base for athlete training, performance services, staff and training partner accommodation, catering, media and logistical operations throughout the games.

So far, this summer has been a huge success for UEL with student Gemma Gibbons achieving a Silver medal in Judo. With the Paralympics still to come, it will be a summer to remember for UEL.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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