The International Schools Sports Organisation (ISSO) Academy has launched a PE Educators Upskill Program in partnership with FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) and the International School Sport Federation (ISF), to be held at The Shri Ram School, Aravali, Gurugram. The programme will bring together 15 PE educators and basketball coaches for a globally aligned training experience, marking ISSO's latest push to raise grassroots sports education standards across India.

Who Is Leading the Programme

The initiative will be headed by Veselin Matic, a Serbian basketball coach with an extensive international coaching career. Matic was part of the legendary FR Yugoslavia coaching setup that claimed titles at EuroBasket 2001 and the 2002 FIBA World Championship. He has since worked with national teams across Europe and Asia, including serving as Head Coach of the Indian Men's Basketball Team from 2019 to 2025.

During his tenure with India, Matic is credited with significantly expanding the country's basketball talent pool, establishing structured coaching pathways, and introducing modern basketball philosophies at the national level.

What Matic Said

Speaking about the programme, Matic said, 'This program is important because real progress always begins at the grassroots level. PE educators and school coaches are the first mentors young athletes interact with and empowering them with modern knowledge and international exposure creates long-term impact. India has tremendous talent and passion for basketball and initiatives like this by ISSO are essential for building stronger systems and a better future for the sport.'

ISSO's Vision and Track Record

Aakanksha Thapak, Director of ISSO, underlined the organisation's long-term intent. 'At ISSO, we strongly believe that the future of Indian sports will be shaped inside schools and through the educators and coaches guiding young athletes every day. This collaboration with FIBA and ISF reflects our long-term commitment towards creating globally benchmarked opportunities for students and coaches in India,' she said.

Thapak added that Matic's 'experience, philosophy, and modern approach to basketball coaching will play a crucial role in empowering our PE educators and coaches with global best practices.'

This basketball-focused programme follows ISSO Academy's earlier PE Educator and Coach Development Programmes conducted in partnership with the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Basketball is now the next sport in focus as ISSO expands its portfolio of globally aligned learning ecosystems for schools across India.

Broader Significance for School Sports in India

The FIBA Coach Education Programme framework underpins this initiative, connecting school-level sport with internationally benchmarked coaching standards. With only 15 educators in this first cohort, the programme is designed for depth over scale — a deliberate approach to ensuring quality knowledge transfer before broader rollout. This comes amid growing recognition that India's sports pipeline depends as much on school-level infrastructure and educator quality as on elite athlete development.

ISSO has stated its commitment to continuing such partnerships, with the goal of transforming school sports education into a structured, globally competitive system nationwide.