BASKETBALL in Linden has had a challenging year in 2010 and president of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), Abdullah Hamid,  thinks that the out-of-order state of the main playing facility for the game – the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) –  contributed significantly. He also felt a lack corporate sponsorship was  key to the regional governing body’s performance over the past year.
Speaking with this newspaper, Hamid admitted that the shortcomings of his association in not being able to garner many sponsors to help promote the sport was of concern, adding basketball had a challenging year in 2010, but it had its pluses and minuses.
According to Hamid one of the advantages was the willingness of clubs and teams in the way they cooperated, along with the few tournaments that were played at the junior level, since the LABA was focusing on the youths. – rebuilding and restructuring the whole administrative part and club-wise in Linden from a stage of youth, because we need to rebuild to have more youth tournaments played so that we can see a better future in the next five or six years,” stated Hamid.
“Looking at the past year and their focus after taking office in 2009, the LABA boss as he noted then said, “It is all about restructuring and having the game played at a tender age so that when you look down you can have more talented players like we had in the past.”
Importantly also, the former national player added that “on the minus side is that we are not getting the corporate community to be a part of basketball and for the past year that we have been in office, we never really had any major sponsor but Banks DIH came on board and gave us something to run off a tournament.”
But he saw a nexus between the lack of sponsorship and the MSC hard court to which he referred saying, “I think it is because of the state of the court and because of some of the outskirt courts are not playable and the venue that we normally use for the past three generations, which is the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court is deplorable and almost three generations have played on that court.”
Hamid explained that on the outreach programme that the Government held in Linden last year, he spoke to His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo, who gave him all assurance that he would make some funds available to do the court.
“The funds have been available as promised by the President for the past five months, but it is stuck to the region and up to date nothing has started on the court. They asked us to remove the uprights on the court, so that some could come and start doing the court and up to now, nothing has started.
But we trust in God that maybe early this year, I think that they should come and do it, so that we could get our programme back and running smoothly. But as it is for now, basketball as a sport needs rebuilding in Linden where youths can understand the purpose of sports so that they can enjoy it,” stated Hamid.