The purpose of the Academy is to teach the game of basketball to the kids and at the same time, develop sportsmanship and build character. Some benefits for the kids are that we provide games and practices, an opportunity to be a part of a group and to develop sportsmanship and social skills.

It gives kids a chance to express themselves through sports from an early age.

Talk a little about basketball in Macedonia. Do you have high numbers of kids that want to play the game of basketball? What age groups participate at Panda?

Macedonia, as part of former Yugoslavia, has a long and storied history of basketball. We continued to build on that history after the fall of Yugoslavia and managed to maintain a proper basketball system with continued results. Although a small country, we were in two European National Championships. Like most of Europe, soccer is still the first sport by popularity but basketball is a close second.

We do have a huge number of kids involved in basketball.At Panda,we have kids ages 7 to 18. In all, we have five teams: U16, U14, U13, U12 and a mini-basket team.

Who do your teams compete against?

Most of our teams compete in the Macedonian Basketball Federation Youth System, which is the only official federation in Macedonia under FIBA rules. Some of the teams compete in tournaments and we also compete against other youth academies and club basketball youth teams.

When a kid reaches the age of 18, do you look to further his/her career by assisting with placement on college or pro teams?

Yes, that's what we are here for. Most of the kids end up on pro clubs across Europe. The new movement Panda provides is directed at preparing kids for the United States’ college system. We want our kids to have the opportunity to get a college degree while playing basketball. That's why we pay close attention to the academics of our kids. Although they are in a school system and we are not obligated to be involved,we want our kids to be academically sound.

That brings me to my next question - how did you learn about Shane Howard and Custom College Recruiting?

I had the opportunity to meet Shane through the phenomenon known as social networking.

What do you find intriguing about the services CCR offers to prospective student athletes?

I had a first hand look at how the United States’ college system works. As a player, I was in NAIA and NJCAA schools and was able to see how recruiting is conducted and I must say, Shane has a great idea. Most of the small colleges don't have the resources and contacts to recruit outside their area. That doesn’t include Europe and the rest of the world.

At the same time, players from around the world who want to get into the college system do not know where to start. CCR brings them together.With CCR, small schools can get great players for their program and the players have more options.

Do you view CCR as a tool that will assist players from Panda in obtaining maximum exposure to coaches in the United States?

Oh yes. We talked about long term collaboration. Coaches will receive constant feedback about athletes’ progress. We want to make it a perfect situation for both parties. By monitoring the kidss progress long-term, coaches will have the best possible players for their program and the kids can get to know as much as possible about where they are going. I feel that CCR can provide that to our kids.