WITH approximately five weeks to go before the tip off of the 21st Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships in Bahamas, the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) has called 35 of the country’s top players locally to participate in tryouts. The players hailing from Georgetown, Linden and Berbice will all converge on the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall today and tomorrow, following which the 15 players will be selected to begin training for the Caribbean’s equivalent to the NBA Championships.
Four (4) coaches in Robert ‘Bobby’ Cadogan, Lugard Mohan, Abdullah Hamid and Mark Agard, along with GABF vice-president Floyd Levi and Cecil Chin, have been selected to take the players through their paces and will also be the persons in charge of selection and the handlings of the national unit.
Contacted yesterday by Chronicle Sport, Levi said that two overseas players, Trinidad and Tobago-based Andrew Iffil and Keiron McKenzie of the USA will be part of the team, while he was reluctant to say whether or not they would be a part of the 15-man squad.
Of the four coaches named, Mohan would be deemed as more experienced, given the fact that he has made a significant impact on the CBC tournament during his tenure as a player and national captain of Guyana’s senior national team in previous years, having last worn the national colours 11 years ago when Guyana placed third in the tournament that was hosted by Barbados.
He (Mohan) is considered one of the most accomplished Guyanese who played at the CBC level when it was known as the CARICOM Championships and while he has stepped away from the game, he is now one of three Guyanese (Aubrey Young and Sherwin Henry being the others) certified by FIBA as a referee.
Cadogan, Hamid and Agard have all represented Guyana before with some amount of success and along with Mohan, should form a formidable coaching team that can bring Guyana success.
Meanwhile, Levi said after tomorrow’s session, the squad will be trimmed to 15, with that number of players undergoing training sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, leading up to their departure for the Bahamas.
“Those are the days given to us by the National Sports Commission (NSC) and we will be making sure that all the players selected are present each day so that we can get our preparation going,” said Levi.
Only two of the 35 players called have ever represented Guyana at the CBC level, namely Iffil and Steve Neils Jr, who were part of the team in 2000 and were both denied visas to be part of the team that placed seventh in the 2007 championships.
The David Patterson-led GABF has long stated that should Guyana make a return to the CBC, they would be looking to field an all-local side with the aim of fostering better relations with the local players and beginning a period of developing the game.
Asked to comment on Guyana’s preparation administratively, Patterson said “so far, so good”, further mentioning, “we have things under control; it’s just now to prepare the team but logistically, I think we are prepared, just a few more things are to be put in place and then it’s all good.”
Guyana are grouped with Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Virgin Islands and Antigua and Barbuda, with the competition set for July 23 to 29.
Guyana will play their first game on Sunday July 24 against Turks and Caicos, followed by their clash against the defending champions Jamaica the next day, Virgin Islands on the 26th and their final game in the preliminary round against Antigua and Barbuda on July 27.
The players called are: BERBICE – Randy Richardson, Theophilus Bess, Sheldon Thomas, Perry Cort and Carlos Crandon. GEORGETOWN –  Royston Silas, Naylon Loncke, Stephon Gillis, Travis Burnette, Ryan Stephney, Akeem Kanhai, Dwayne Roberts, Rodwell Fortune, Travis Foster, Drumsen McAlley, Andrew Ifill, Shelroy Thomas, Jaime Mayers, Jason Squires, Vivian Alder, Jermaine Slater, Ryan Gullen, Travis Williams and Earl O’Neil. LINDEN – Marvin Hartman, Steve Neil Jr., Jason Alonzo, Orin Rose Jr., Lewis James, Neil Marks, Chris Williams, Kevin Joseph, Shane Webster, Quincy Jones and Trevor Profitt.