… Digicel and Ansa McAl on board
THE Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) yesterday officially launched their National Club Championship which is set to start on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. A double-header, featuring Georgetown’s number one Ravens matching skills with New Amsterdam Warriors in the opening game from 19:00 h, and then Pistons facing off with Maccabees, will bounce off the championship.
Cellular service providers Digicel and beverage giant Ansa McAl under their Mackeson brand are the major sponsors of the event and at the launching, both entities have pledged their full support behind the tournament.
Eight teams drawn from Linden, Berbice and Georgetown will compete not only for the lucrative cash incentives and prizes, but also for a chance to be spotted for selection to represent Guyana at this year’s Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships in the Bahamas.
GABF president David Patterson said that the tournament should have been played earlier in the year, but then, his two main sub-associations (Linden and Georgetown) were not settled and as such, it forced them to push it back.
He, however said, the GABF could not have waited any longer because the CBC tournament starts at the end of July and the established selection committee would need adequate time to spot the players, and players also will need enough time to be properly prepared.
Basketball has been low-key since last year with only Berbice seeing some play earlier in the year. The Linden Amateur Basketball Association has still not held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) after two unsuccessful tries and the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) has not resumed play even after getting their house in order last month.
Asked if he was concerned about the state of his two powerhouses and if the game would be played in a competitive manner, given the lack of play in the two areas? Patterson said that the Federation is optimistic that the competition will be played at a high level, given what is at stakes, but shed his dissatisfaction at how it is being treated by the two.
He outlined that the GABF was pleased that the GABA could have held its AGM and elections and seems to be working in getting its house in order but said GABF will have to intervene in the case of the LABA because “it’s disheartening to see that they have not held their elections and the state of the game is very bad and the Federation will step in,”
Meanwhile, there has been some changes as it relates to the teams representing Linden as now, the Retrieve Raiders were added and the Kashif and Shanghai were cast out.
Last week, the LABA had said that the Victory Valley Royals, Pistons and Kings would be representing its association, but then the Amelia’s Ward Jets filed a Petition, stating that they, not Kings, should be the other team, since they are ranked second in Linden.
Abdullah Hamid, the president of LABA stated that the selection was based on their knowledge of who are the fitter teams to represent Linden and not based on rankings. Patterson said that the Federation, who was written by the Jets last week, made it clear that they are resting the situation in the hands of LABA.
However, Patterson said that eyebrows were raised by the Federation after the sudden change and it was later said by the LABA that the Jets were being sanctioned over “some unfulfilled requirements” last year and as such they were omitted, but then, no reason was given why Kings are out and Raiders in.
Meanwhile, both sponsors made clear their intentions of making the event as big as possible and charged that the players help to market the championships with quality basketball.