He joined La Nueva Provincia in 1995. He works in the Sports section and was a collaborator in Regional and Local News of this same medium. He specializes in basketball. He was part of the staff of Encestando y Zona de Básquet magazine for 10 years. He had experience in the program Radial Contrabásquet, on Radio La Red.
Twitter: @rodriguezefe
Instagram: ferocity_
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Jamaal Levy is reinventing himself. At 40 years old he still feels like a player, even though he began to dabble as a coach.
“I’m traveling to Argentina,” he says from Panama, his country, where he settled again, after, while playing for Villa Mitre, he returned following the surprising death of his father.
In search of his destiny, he found a way out by training at a school, where competition is centralized. She also accepted, first, the proposal to work with Proyecto24, a recruitment program for minor Panamanian players.
And in the meantime he received a call from the Panamanian Federation to join the coaching staff of the team that will participate in the Pan American Games in Chile.
This whole combo led him to put the bag back together.
“We are going to the Sueños Dorados tournament that is played in Bahiense del Norte (13 to 16 of the current) with two Under 14 men’s teams. “I return to Panama,” he explained, “and in 10 days I leave for the Pan American Games in Santiago.”
-Are the boys who come to Bahia from the National Team or a group formed to compete?
-They are part of the project that a friend is carrying out, in which they work with Under 12 and Under 14 boys. They are promising players who have been standing out in different tournaments. I train them during the weekends.
-That has nothing to do with the Federation?
-It was endorsed by the previous leadership of the Federation, although for a few days there has been a new president (Abdiel Blanco) and they will have to meet to see how to move forward.
-From what you say, you are finding your coaching profile.
-I’m trying, I’m getting involved and learning.
-What is the scenario in Panama to be able to develop?
-There are job opportunities, we need to put a little more order. There is a lot of competition, what is missing is planning to train. There is also a lack of infrastructure, but a lot of basketball is played. There are academies and quite a few kids, with several collegiate tournaments. And there are schools that have been investing in coaches.
-As for the National Team, with what expectations are you going to go to the Pan American Championship?
-The most experienced are outside and do not receive permission to play, so it will be a fairly young team. They are kids who are here in Panama and have to take advantage of the opportunity, because they are the replacement.
-They are in a deep change.
-Yes, from the managers and now from the players. At least for this tournament. I don’t know what coaching staff and players there will be for the windows. The Federation is being administratively restructured.
-From a technical point of view, what can you apply from what you incorporated over the years in Argentina and for a long time surrounded by kids in Bahía Basket?
-Quite. Here we work differently. In the training categories, not so much in tactics, but in offensive and defensive concepts. It is difficult to work a lot on defensive concepts, something that is basic outside. And forward, trying to play more collectively than individually. I try to contribute a lot, and since they still see me as a player, I have the opportunity to create a bond.
-Has the player Jamaal Levy already passed?
-That’s the doubt, I haven’t finished retiring yet.
-Are there possibilities to play?
-Nothing concrete. Here the people of Panama think that I retired from everything, because they see me involved in this. But I haven’t defined it yet, although the opportunities are increasingly difficult. Thank God I have had several opportunities with the topic of coaching and to abandon everything it would have to be a good option.
-Do you have a chance to play there?
-The new leadership wants to implement the professional league, but it will be from next year. And there I will see if I play or am part of a coaching staff.
-And here in Argentina?
-It would be good, but I don’t know, I would have to see where and, besides, the silver issue is tough.
-Since you returned to Panama, have you never returned to Argentina?
-No no.
-Did your family stay?
-My family is in Buenos Aires.
-Didn’t you play anymore?
-No. I train, because I’m giving private classes and so on. But competitively I never played an official match again.
-Did you have contact with Villa Miter again?
-No. I chatted with Lichi (De Tomasi, former coach) and with Bollo, but nothing more.
-Did the relationship end well?
-Yes on my side, and I think theirs too. The departure was unexpected and they understood my situation. It was nothing planned. Maybe they thought I would return, but I made another decision, which went beyond basketball. It may be that they were hurt from a basketball perspective, because I left at a time when they could no longer replace me, but when my father died I returned to my country and then I had to choose a direction. The truth is that he didn’t have the brains to play basketball either.
-And you never cleared it up with them?
-Yeah. When I made the decision we made a video call with Lichi and Cabe (González, leader) and I explained to them that I was not going to return immediately. My dad had traveled to Bahia to see me in January and this was surprising, because he was not sick.
2023-10-07 08:04:49
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