“MY aim is to get things back to the way it used to be or even better,” proclaimed recently-voted-in president of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), Lawrence Simon. The Guyana Geology and Mines Corporation (GGMC) employee is a well-known figure in the sport in Linden and was in the forefront of revitalising one of Linden’s top clubs in the heyday – the Amelia’s Ward Falcons.

Simon was unanimously voted in to serve the LABA for two years and has National Communications Network (NCN) Linden branch manager Andrew McBean as his vice-president along with Eze Wilson.
Joe Chapman, the only returning member from the previous executive body, will serve as secretary, treasurer Chantel Brooks, assistant secretary Danica Barker-Chase, organising secretary Christopher Pollydore, assistant treasurer Shawnette Smith and Public Relations Officer Collin Adams.
Ashton Angel (Jr), Omally Sampson, Kevin Joseph, Eusi Francis and Shauna Chester are the committee members.
“I think what will make my job easy is that around me, I have people who actually understand what we have to do and how we will go about doing it. It’s going to be a lot of work. First, there are a few things we need to get fixed internally then we have to meet with the Federation and outline a few things to them that we would like to see happen in Linden. It’s going to be one step at a time,” Simon said.
The basketball enthusiast said that also atop their agenda will be to have a complete reform of the LABA’s constitution, stating that “with the way the game is now, the present constitution doesn’t really fit in, so we’ll be looking to see how soon we can have that done”.
Simon noted that steady competition is needed, but it must be done in a structured way, where all can benefit. He said that the new attitude of the LABA is to work with all stakeholders of the game, even those outside of the mining town, so that basketball can return to the days when it was truly a community sport.