By Stephan Sookram
BASKETBALL fans will have something special to look forward to next month when the National Club Championships, Road to Mecca Three bounces off at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.Officially launched on Friday at the 704 sport lounge, the third instalment of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) knockout club championship will start on March 4 and will feature teams from Linden, Berbice and Georgetown.
President of the GABF, Nigel Hinds, contended that the third instalment of the games will take a different flow, adding, “We have the support of the corporate community and the government and we anticipate to have a fantastic spectacle at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
“We have committed ourselves to promoting the event in a manner that is not just basketball, but sports entertainment akin to what we might see at the international level. This will extend from the beginning of the tournament right through till the end,” said the GABF president.
He spoke of halftime shows during the games, which will contain three-point shootouts, free throw shots, dancing, singing, modelling and many other things that are expected to ensure fans have an enjoyable time.
Meanwhile, the inclusion of school teams has been confirmed by the GABF as according to Hinds, it plays an integral part of the federation’s development plan. He also praised the work of Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) in this regard.
During this tournament, there will be a renewed interest in players and their on-court injuries with the GABF boss adding, “During the Burnham classic, we had an incident there where there wasn’t a medic on hand and that wouldn’t happen again. We will have medics.”
Fans driving to the event have been assured of the safety of their vehicles, with security being beefed up during the third instalment of the tournament; there will also be a police presence to ensure that order is kept during the game.
One million Guyana dollars will be shared among the top four teams and there will be special giveaways for fans during all of the games.
The 16-team tournament will feature Georgetown teams in the TGH Pacesetters, The Colts, Ravens, Guardians, Pepsi Sonics, UG Trojans, Nets, and Eagles while the mining town will be represented by the Raiders, Victory Valley Royals, Bulls, Jets, Falcons and Block 22 Flames; Berbice has Smithfield Rockers and the New Amsterdam Warriors .
Berbice will be the only team allowed to field guest players in the interest of having fair competition
The first fixture on March 4 will pit the Block 22 flames against the Colts, while the Jets and the Bulls will take centre stage for game 2