Central Basketball Association

At the end of the 2015 CBA season, the league initiated an effort to help its league players advance to the professional level on the international market. 

This project, named the CBA Global Opportunities Program, was based on the league's direct connections with various basketball federations across the world, including Asia, the Middle East, and South America. 

Through this Program, players had the opportunities to go directly overseas and tryout in front of dozens of foreign teams, scouts, general managers, and coaches. By traveling straight to the source, rather than participating in numerous third-party domestic combines in the United States, hosted by various agents and brokers, players could instead receive better value for their financial investment by participating in competition in the home countries of the international teams that would be signing import players. 

During the 2015-2016 offseason, the CBA helped players engage in competition in Brazil, Chile, Dubai, Mexico, and Taiwan, in which nearly 75 players received opportunities to compete on international soil during the last 12 months. Overall, the league has helped nearly 125 players in the last three offseasons to play in a foreign country, and looks to push that number over 200 players by the start of the 2017 CBA season. 

For the 2016-2017 CBA Global Opportunities Program this offseason, it will begin with at least four international tours in the next six months, beginning with Brazil and Taiwan this upcoming September.

Last year, eight league players participated in the inaugural CBA Brazil trip in Rio de Janeiro, resulting in five contract offers and three players ultimately moving to the South American nation: Springfield's Joshua Minner, Peoria's Brandon Lee, and Bowling Green's Kalen Kimberland.

This year, a team of CBA players will engage in competition against the top teams from the Santa Catarina, Parana, and Sao Paulo regions of Brazil during a 10-day span, as CBA Brazil looks to add more CBA players on to its rosters for next year. 

The Taiwan trip last year, which featured a tournament-style setting between teams from six nations, resulted in the three players receiving opportunities following the trip, including 2015 CBA Most Valuable Player, Mississippi's Mardracus Wade, who landed a season-long guaranteed NBA D-League contract with the Iowa Energy immediately after his performance in the Asian tournament.

This year, Taiwan will again feature the six-nation tournament, in which, the CBA will now be bringing in additional international scouts from various nations in South Asia to the Taiwan tournament to specifically focus on the players from the CBA team. 

The league has also secured international opportunities for its players in Chile in the Fall, as well as Mexico in the Winter; and is currently finalizing agreements for the league to engage in further tryout opportunities in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia during the Winter months. 

For individuals that are seeking their first international contract, or for those pursuing a return back into the international market, they are encouraged to sign up for the CBA Global Opportunities Program at http://www.playcba.com/global. 

There are limited spots on the international trips and registration will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. All players, both CBA and non-CBA athletes, are encouraged to register.

Questions regarding the 2016-2017 CBA Global Opportunities Program, can be directed to the CBA Vice President and Director of Player Development, Nathan Thompson, at nthompson@playcba.com.