U.S. Embassy Supports Marcin Gortat Camps

Camp in Lodz, photo: Wojciech Figurski / 058sport.pl

Camp in Lodz, photo: Wojciech Figurski / 058sport.pl

The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw was a sponsor of the 10th edition of the Marcin Gortat Camps, a series of basketball workshops for children organized by the Marcin Gortat Foundation.  During this year’s camps, Gortat invited three fellow NBA players to run the camps with him: Bo Outlaw, most famous for his career in the Orlando Magic, and Washington Wizards players Otto Porter and Daniel Ochefu.

Throughout July, the two-day camps took place in four cities in Poland: Powidz, Rumia, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Łódź.  They consisted of workshops for children with disabilities, and other basketball activities offered by the Marcin Gortat Camps and the Junior NBA Clinics.  The camps were an opportunity for Polish children to be coached by the best players and coaches of the National Basketball Association.

This year, two American children accompanied Marcin Gortat to Poland to participate alongside their Polish peers in the camps in Łódź.

On July 30th, in Gortat’s hometown of Łódź, his foundation will organize a charity basketball match between the Gortat Team and the Polish Army.  Many Polish celebrities will play on the Gortat Team. For one quarter, American soldiers stationed in Poland, on behalf of NATO, will play alongside the Polish Army.

Cultural Attaché Scott Whitmore will present awards to the eight best young participants of this year’s Marcin Gortat Camps. Award recipients have an exciting adventure ahead of them, with a trip to the United States to take part in a cultural program and to see an NBA Washington Wizards match.