(ECNS) -- A basketball academy was founded by Chinese Basketball Association in Shanghai on Tuesday with Yao Ming elected as president.
In cooperation with the CBA and Shanghai University of Sport, CBA Basketball Academy will recruit 30 undergraduates in 2018.
Yao, also elected president of the CBA in February, said the sport needs a range of talent. "Not only sportsmen, coaches and referees," he said, but also people doing support and service jobs.
Academic courses will include some on basketball Big Data and also sports culture.
The academy will set up a research center to explore further development of the sport over the next 10 years, Yao said. An international basketball summit will also be held to help build the academy into an innovation center and think-tank focused on exploring careers in Chinese basketball.
