Jessica Dubela

JD7 Founder

While playing professionally in Europe, I took high level coaching certification courses through the French Federation (FFBB) and coached youth teams in France, Spain, and Poland. Since returning from playing overseas, I started going around to basketball tournaments back home. I immediately got fed up with the way youth basketball is being coached in America. I could see that it was very hard to find good coaches for youth here. There are a lot of so-called “trainers” now that claim they know how to coach. Training someone, and COACHING someone, are two VERY different things.

What motivated me to become so good as a player was to prove my former coaches wrong. They didn’t believe in me. I had to work for everything I got. I had to play as a Freshman on the freshman team in High School because I was still short/skinny and just moved to the area and wasn’t in the “basketball circle”. I had to play as a Sophomore on JV because I wasn’t the one with the most potential to play college. I had to sit as a Junior on Varsity because I wasn’t the favorite. I finally started as a Senior because I worked my butt off to show them I was the best and they didn’t have a choice but to play me.

I had to go play on JV as a freshman at a Division III school because no one helped me get recruited. I had to transfer to another Division III College because the first program didn’t see the value I brought. I finally found a Coach that would take a chance on me and believe in me. I was a 3 year starter and won 3 Conference Championships, played in 3 NCAA Tournaments, scored over 1000 points in only 3 years, won 2 League MVPs, the list goes on.

The challenges didn’t stop there because now I was looked at as being a “Division III” player to try to find a team in Europe. I took a chance and went on to compete in some of the top leagues in Europe.

I believe every player of all skill levels is capable of getting to where they want to. BUT, they need the right coach in their corner, have the right connection, the right mindset, and they MUST have the desire to put in the work.

“Build your own way” -JD7

About Jessica Dubela

I have been working with players for close to ten years both in Europe and the States. Staying close to the game: from those early youth seasons, then moving into the competitive arena, made the transition into coaching a natural evolution. Learning the finer points of basketball, from various coaches and half a dozen countries (absorbing the language and customs of each) has blessed me with a unique perspective. And much of what I’ve learned is exactly what I’ll be teaching to the girls and boys that attend JD7 Events.