Hi, I'm Ernie. I'm 16 years old. I'm 6 foot 3. And I've been selected to showcase my basketball skills in the USA.

I'd be joining other young players from around the world to play in front of hundreds of college coaches and scouts.

It's an amazing opportunity for me. I'll meet new friends, explore amazing places, work on my skills and possibly even secure a college basketball scholarship in the USA, which is my absolute dream.

At the moment I play for the City of London Academy U16s team. Two nights a week we train together and we have a game every weekend.

I've been working very hard on my game for ages and I'm hoping the chance to go to the USA will be a big leap up to take me to the next level.

The trip is set for after I have taken my GCSEs in July. We'd stay at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg Kentucky. Over the two weeks we are there we visit 8 other universities and meet their basketball coaches and watch NCAA Live Period games. The trip ends with playing in the BigShots tournament, which has discovered many of the NBA players today.

Thank you for reading this and even more thanks for your donations.

Love, Ernie.