By: Matthew Rodrigopulle

The National Basketball Youth Mentorship Program (NBYMP) will be hosting the first edition of the annual NBYMP Awards this month.

The awards will recognize the achievements of the NBYMP’s mentor’s and mentee’s throughout 2020. Winners will be selected on Dec. 21 based on nominations.

“Youth and mentors are what make this program possible,” said Kevin Wilson, founder of the NBYMP. “It is extremely important that we recognize and award their efforts, especially for their leadership ability, academic success, community work, and commitment to our program as a whole. In reality, all of the mentors and youth in our program deserve a great deal of recognition. Our NBYMP Awards will simply highlight those who have gone above and beyond in certain areas.”

Four awards will be given out, each with their own category and achievement. The Mentor of the Year award will be given out to one nominated mentor. The Jr. Mentor of the Year award will be given to one NBYMP mentee who has displayed leadership in their community. The Entrepreneur of the Year award will be given to a mentee who is enrolled in the NBYMP’s new Youth Entrepreneurship Program. Finally, the H.E.A.R.T. award will be given to an NBYMP mentee who has shown the most commitment to the NBYMP program as a whole.

The NBYMP will also be giving out All-Academic awards. Between 10-15 students will be chosen for the NBYMP All-Academic Team.

“The goal of these awards is to encourage the recipient to continue on their path towards success,” Wilson said. “Generally in life, people are not rewarded enough for their efforts and accomplishments. Our hope is that these awards will motivate the winners to be even better than they currently are.”

Students under 19 years of age can be considered for an award. 

The award ceremony will be live streamed virtually for award winners. The ceremony will include free giveaways, a live 50/50 draw and many other cool initiatives. The date and time of the ceremony will be announced soon.

The NBYMP Awards will be an annual occurrence taking place in either November or December each year. For more updates, make sure to follow along on the NBYMP’s social media pages.