GABA Mackeson National Super Ward Championships …
PRESIDENT of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Trevor Rose believes that the Mackeson-sponsored National Super Ward basketball championship has surpassed all expectations and has certainly raised the bar for the sport locally. Ten wards (teams), drawn from Linden (2), Berbice (1) East Bank (1) and the East Coast (1) of Demerara along with Georgetown (5), were placed in two groups to have a straight shootout for a chance to claim the tournament’s $500 000 first prize.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport yesterday, Rose said that he was more than satisfied with the level of competitiveness and spoke of surprised elimination of Georgetown Inter-ward champions North Ruimveldt from the finals and the emergence of Charlestown/Albouystown as the new powerhouse of the tournament.
“I think it would be hard to say that we’re not pleased with how this tournament has turned out to be and the response it has gotten from the players; it’s more than what we expected.
The game has spoken for itself because this is the first time that Charlestown have ever reached an inter-ward finals and everyone has them to win but then there’s Linden so it’s all turned out to be better than we planned,” Rose said.
Charlestown/Albouystown who are yet to be defeated in the tournament will face the pride of Linden in a best-of-three finals starting on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Both sides are more than capable of easily winning the half a million dollars but it’s the Charlestown unit whom many pundits are favouring to win, but knowing Linden and how unpredictable they can be, it sets up one of the best Inter-Ward finals to date.
The two sides have met in the final game of the group stages and the City ward easily prevailed but then Central stunned many in the semi-finals when they defeated North Ruimveldt 56-46 to advance to the finals – doing a bit better than their fellow Linden side, Christianburg, who fell prey to Charlestown/Albouystown.
“We want to colour code the finals,” said the GABA president. “We want the supporters of Georgetown
(Charlestown/Albouystown) to wear yellow and black and the Central Mackenzie supporters to wear red and burgundy. We just want to add some excitement to the finals and make it really big and something the people will enjoy.”
Ansa McAl, under its Mackeson stout brand, is the tournament’s biggest sponsor along with Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT&T) and Giftland OfficeMax.
Rose said that the feedback from them suggests that longevity of the event seems to be in good hands.
“Well yea, they are happy with how things are going so far like I said, we all are happy and it’s more important that the sponsors are happy. Some of them have even given a bit more to help in the promotion of the finals, like Ansa McAl and so on. These companies have been very supportive of the tournament and I’m sure that the players will deliver,” the GABA president Rose remarked.
Rose felt that the fever for the Inter-Ward will not die after the tournament concludes next weekend, but that “this tournament I think will help to raise the standard of basketball not only in Georgetown but in Guyana because the players from all over are playing in these wards and I think they will take that same competitiveness back to their respective clubs and it will be good for the sport.”