… Rose, Thomas and Wade to be honoured
FOR the fifth year in succession, Street Solutions, in collaboration with the National Sports Commission will be hosting the National Schools Basketball Festival (NSBF) which begins today at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Thirty-two of the Nation’s top basketball-playing schools will converge on Guyana’s premier indoor facility where some gruelling battles are expected in the tournament that will be played in a round-robin knockout format.
According to tournament coordinator Chris Bowman, the day’s proceedings will get on the way at 15:00 h with the participating schools being ushered around the venue during the march past by the Marching Band of Marian Academy.
Expected to be present and to deliver the charges are Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony and Director of Sport Neil Kumar.
Bowman said that it was not confirmed if Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Education Minister Sheik Baksh will attend but “once they’re there, they will make some remarks”.
Meanwhile, Bowman disclosed that three players who have excelled in the previous tournaments will be honoured today as part of the organisers’ recognition of their achievements.
They are Orin Rose, former captain and star of the defending champions Linden Technical Institute (LTI), Shelroy Thomas, former captain of the Kwakwani Secondary and Government Technical Institute (GTI) and Yannick Wade formerly of St Rose’s High School, first-time winners of the tournament.
All three players have gone on to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the competition and also represented Guyana at the Inter-Guiana Games.
Rose and Thomas were both members of the victorious IGG team that swept the basketball title in 2007 when the championships were hosted in Guyana and they also played in the team that finished second last year in Suriname.
But as it relates to making an impact on the game of basketball during their transition from junior to senior, it is Rose’s bulls-eye like shooting that has earned him the recognition of being one of the games’ pure shooters at present.
He currently plays for the Kings Basketball Club of Linden and his presence will certainly be missed in this year’s tournament as LTI try to defend their titles won in 2008 and 2009.
Last year’s competition was well attended and was highly competitive and it was also used as a means to select Guyana’s IGG basketball team.
This year it will be no different and it was already hinted that since Guyana will be hosting the second leg of the tri-nation tournament, the strongest possible team will be selected.
A notable figure missing this year is Guyana’s junior national captain, ‘The Dream’ Akeem Kanhai.
Kanhai, a former student of the Mackenzie High School in Linden, had created quite a stir last year with his eye-catching display of the game of basketball but was knocked out by Rose and LTI.
Kanhai, though eligible and is set to return as captain of the Junior national IGG squad, will not be featuring in this year’s NSBF nor will the MHS side who were the top basketball-playing school in Linden last year.
Despite the sporadic rainfall being experienced at present, the schools are assuring that though their preparation is hampered a bit, no substandard performances will be displayed.
Apart from having an overall champion, the tournament will be divided into three categories: Under-16, Under-18 and Open with each having two groups. LTI are the defending overall champions having won in 2009 and 2008 while Kwakwani Secondary are set to shield their 2009 Under-18 title and the reigning Under-16 champions are Cummings Lodge Secondary.