Resilience, ‘Kind’ness and Basketball

KINGSTON, Jamaica — At least 2,000 children and teens across western Jamaica are expected to gather in Treasure Beach to benefit from a basketball training camp next week as volunteers fly in to put on what they hope will be a lesson in sportsmanship, passion and resilience. The PMBL Treasure Beach Jamaican Youth Basketball Camp is led by Jake Kind each year, in partnership with the Breds Foundation, spearheaded by Jason Henzell and will this year host its 12th annual camp. “We are focusing on getting buses into areas that were affected by the hurricane so we're spreading the word in Parrottee, in Galleon, the whole Black River area, you know, because we know that these children would not have had it easy in the last 10 months so this would be something to hopefully brighten up their summer,” Henzell said referring to the passage of Hurricane Melissa which devastated the western portion of the island.

Since its inauguration, PMBL camps have only ever missed one year, because of COVID-19, and the passage of Hurricane Melissa has not put a damper on the camp at all; instead, it has fired up Kind and his coaches to create a positive environment for the children of western Jamaica. Kind spoke to Observer Online as he was in the process of boarding a flight to Montego Bay for this year’s camp. “When Hurricane Beryl hit a couple years ago, we were contemplating if we were going to be able to come or not, and we started getting videos from our campers really imploring us to come down.

And that regardless of the situation and the devastation, they still wanted to express themselves… this year, I feel the same way, that we're really going to be a great distraction for them, hopefully kickstart their school year and really bring a tonne of positivity, energy, and joy to some kids who really deserve it and need it,” Kind explained. Kind explained that all of the coaches who participate pay their own way to Jamaica so that every dollar donated goes to the camp and the children, who will be fed three meals per day and will receive a full basketball kit including jersey and gear as well as school supplies. Kind is deeply committed to the camp and has only missed one staging, the year he was battling stage 3B colorectal cancer.

Even then, he explained that it was at the forefront of his mind. “ When I was sick and doing chemo, the only thing that was really going through …