Next Gen Energy
NEXT GEN ENERGY
There are few sports that cross boundaries and connect people from different walks of life like basketball does. No matter your background, if you hoop, you speak the language fluently.
Go to any court, whether it be in Paris or elsewhere, and you will see these bonds form that don’t require anything other than a ball and a hoop.
It could be a coach teaching a player, a veteran taking a rookie under her wing, or an elder dropping knowledge to a younger.
The culture does not exist without those that came before, and likewise, it doesn’t continue without the next generation coming through. Teaching and learning goes both ways.
Both Paris Basket 18 and Sons of Jemappes understand this better than most and forge these connections every day through their work in spaces like Jemappes court.
French national team point guard Olivia Epoupa started her esteemed career with Paris Basket 18 and despite her stardom never forgets her roots, taking any and every chance to link up with her old club.
Djena, a current Paris Basketball 18 player, is next up. She not only takes advice and teaching points from Olivia when their paths cross but uses her journey as inspiration to show what is possible.
For Sons of Jemappes, Will is living proof of the power of the game. Ten years ago, he came to France from Brazil and ultimately ended up learning French through playing pick up on Jemmapes court. Now, he volunteers on the same court that helped him, working with the likes of Jonas and Elias, to give them the same opportunities the game offered him.
We brought together the different generations of Paris Basket 18 and Sons of Jemappes and decked them out in the latest basketball drops from adidas, Crooks and Castles, PUMA, Nike, and Jordan.
