The Globallers, Japan's premier 15U boys basketball team, traveled to Orlando this July as part of their US Showcase. This trip featured the Globallers competing in the AAU World Championship and other basketball-related activities.
Sporta Japan is in charge of managing Sun Chlorella's Globallers and held tryouts across Japan to select the nation's top players. The group headed to Orlando on July 1 and it was the first time all 8 team members had visited the United States.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was established in 1888 and is one of the largest, non-profit amateur sports organizations in the United States. It is viewed as the top entity for youth basketball with over 800,000 members and many NBA/WNBA alumni.
World Championship Highlights:
The AAU's most competitive international tournament was held at the prestigious ESPN Wide World of Sports complex within the larger Disney World facilities. This was the location for the NBA's 2020 COVID impacted season (the "bubble"). Over 600 team participated, including 64 in the 15U age group, from countries like Australia, Mexico, Spain and France.
The Globallers got off to a hot start on Day 1...winning their first 2 games of pool play:
Globallers 59 - 55 Florida Team12 Red
Globallers 64 - 52 Virginia 757 Warriors
Teams were frustrated by the Globaller's defensive intensity, unselfish team play and overall skill level. The team unfortunately lost a tightly contested bracket game (43-36) on Day 3 and were eliminated from the tournament.
Overall the tournament was a very rewarding experience for the players, giving them a chance to face top international competition, identify areas for improvement, and engage with players from the US and other countries.
Other US Trip Highlights:
The Globallers visited and had a training session at Montverde Academy, the #1 ranked High Basketball program in the US. Montverde has many NBA alumni (RJ Barrett, Cade Cunningham) and the projected #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft (Cooper Flagg).
One player from this U.S. tour will be awarded a scholarship to enroll at a top US High School. Stay tuned as this placement process starts very soon. Two previous scholarship recipients were placed at St. John Bosco (California State Champions) and Crespi Carmelite High School (Head Coach Derek Fisher).
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