YOUTH BASKETBALL Guyana (YBG) last Tuesday, launched its eighth edition of the National Schools Basketball Festival and the third edition of the Regional Conference Championships at Marian Academy Sports Office, Carifesta Avenue.

The tournament which has become the nationwide testing ground for school basketball teams will feature four conferences namely: Ancient Conference (Berbice), City Conference (Georgetown), Diamond Conference (East Bank) and the Country Conference (East Coast).
Linden, which already has a school tournament of its own, will feature in the tournament when the Conference final rolls around on May 26.
With conference games set to start May 3 with the Ancient Conference, followed by the City Conference on May 4, Chris Bowman, Co-coordinator of the YBG Organisation, said plans are on stream for another successful hosting of the tournament, with focus being on player and coach education.
The organisation also aims to nurture talent in schools, hoping to introduce an Under-14 category into the tournament in the not-too-distant future.
“We find that once a team graduates especially once they are dominant most of the time that school falls and is not at the level they once were but we are trying to set up a structure to take that into account so that talent can continue to flow from an early age as those athletes grow and that is why we will introduce an Under-14 category.
“We also want to look at players’ education and coaching education as well, so those are just some of the areas we want to shift some focus to this year,” Bowman noted at the press briefing.
Meanwhile, Director of Sport Neil Kumar believes that the tournament is a bank for basketball talent in the nation, stating that the YBG organising team must be commended for their credibility.
“This tournament started out as a partnership with the ministry and the YBG and this tournament has grown especially with producing for the IGG (Inter-Guiana Games) and this tournament has become a reservoir for talent and it’s not based in the city, it’s based across the country.
“We in the government recognise the effort and have decided to put down courts throughout the tournament so that we can really push basketball,” Kumar noted.
Further, Kumar complimented the YBG on its accountability and threw a barb at the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) in the process.
“I’m happy to see the sponsors are here and I know that they like consistency and accountability and this is one tournament that is transparent and accountable. While the national body (GABF) might not be functioning, this is a good programme and I am very pleased to say that the YBG programme is here to stay,” Kumar declared.
With Banks DIH, Beharry Group of Companies and telecommunication giant Digicel back onboard with the tournament, Public Relations Officer for Banks DIH Troy Peters views the tournament as Guyana’s ‘National Basketball Association (NBA)’.
“We are happy with the things Chris and his team have been doing and I see this as Guyana’s NBA. We look forward to the continuity and we wish you all the best and we hope the spectators come out and support the tournament,” Peters stated.
Anjuli Beharry, head of the marketing for the Beharry Group of Companies which has been with the YBG for five years pointed out that the group is happy to be involved with youth development of basketball and gave assurance that as long as the tournament is around, the Beharry company will play a role in sponsorship.
Meanwhile Digicel’s Public Relations Manager Shonnet Moore related that being a part of the decentralising of the sport, Digicel came on board three years ago for the introduction of the regional conferences.
“We are particularly interested in the Regional Conference Championship. We like the fact that it is not centred in the city unlike many other projects. We look forward to the championships and great things from it,” Moore stated.