Defending champions MHS face
Kwakwani in Wednesday’s opener
DEFENDING Champions Mackenzie High School will go head to head with Kwakwani Secondary School to open this year’s Victory Valley Royals 6th annual Linden Under-19 Schools basketball championship which will bounce off on  Wednesday  at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
This addition of the Kwakwani  Secondary School for the first time in the history of the tournament became possible after Cell Phone giants Digicel came on board to provide the key sponsorship for the transportation needs of the Kwakwani Secondary School.
Kwakwani Secondary during the years of the championship have among other things won the national schools championship, and now will have a chance to go after a title which they have craved for, after performing well at a higher level..
At a press briefing held last Friday at the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) where the selected schools MHS, Kwakwani, Linden Foundation Secondary, New Silvercity Secondary, Christianburg/ Wismar Secondary and Linden Technical Institute attended in the Macaw Boardroom, the fixtures for the round robin format preliminary round play was released.
The opening ceremony and March Past of the participating schools will precede the clash of two of the favoured teams in the tournament.
The first tournament was played in April 2005 after the idea by the Victory Valley Royals basketball club led by Linden Alphonso realized there was lack of a developmental programme to provide for future players at the club level in Linden.
Present at the launching were Allied arts Coordinator of the Region Ten Department of Education Ms Wanda Richmond, Abdulla Hamid, president of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association, PRO of Royals Mrs. Candy Bellamy and Assistant Secretary of the club Ms Petal Williams and chaired by Ms Cathy Richards.
As has become customary each school was presented with uniforms and socks while the president of LABA Abdulla Hamid handed over a basketball to each of the participating schools.
He noted that this is a much anticipated tournament among the schools and it is also part of the focus of the association and expected this year’s tournament to be of a higher level.
Hamid said that”most of the players had already attached themselves to club teams in the area and from the recent tournaments it was obvious that there was a growth in youth basketball.“

He congratulated the club saying it was doing a marvelous job and urged them to look at other divisions of the sport while he commended Digicel for coming on board to assist with sponsorship..
Ms Richmond said that “games are friendly wars” and when it is over players should be back again as friends.
She encouraged all players to work as a team because “team work is important as it leads to success” and emphasizes the point of discipline. She was somewhat disappointed in  removal of the Wisburg Secondary and Wisburg Annexe from the tournament but admitted that it will serve as a challenge to them to force their way back into the tournament.
She however said that Kwakwani was always being considered and it was good that Digicel had come forward to ensure this happened.
She acknowledged the work put in by the overseas-based Linden Alphonso and sponsors in ensuring the tournament grew to what it was over the years.