By Daniel Haynes

FOR THE last eleven years, the biggest event on the calendar for schools basketball has been the National Schools Basketball Festival or NSBF- an event that has been run by Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG). Since its inception in 2006, the tournament has evolved to have a Regional leg in a lead-up to the Festival where teams from Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, Berbice and Linden play among themselves to get top seeding for the Festival.

The format has drawn close comparison to what is seen in the College Basketball and National Basketball Association (NBA) format in the United States of America. The entire programme, however, started with another initiative, says YBG Director Chris Bowman.
“The NSBF, for example, was first organised under the umbrella of Street Solution, which was a private sports promotional group that myself and Rayad Boyce had initiated in 2006,” stated Bowman.
He added that YBG was then created to provide a greater level of organisational structure to schools basketball in a manner that was both consistent and coordinated. However, there came a period when what they were doing wasn’t enough and this happened in 2011.
“In 2011 we saw it necessary to improve on the organisational model in order to be more effective in terms of youth basketball programming,” Bowman stated.
Finding the consistency to continue the work they were doing and even improve on that work proved to be one of the biggest challenges for the YBG team. When asked about finding the consistency to maintain the standard they had set, Bowman was thoughtful about his answer.
“Well, it is harder than it appears. There are too many inherent challenges to school and youth sport as a whole, but we have always had a vision of creating a new student athlete culture through the sport of basketball, and I guess that’s what has kept us going because we have not yet accomplished that goal,” he finished.
However, further challenges have encompassed access to facilities, equipment, nutrition and coaching for all student athletes. Bowman stated that they also needed to have a better understanding of the benefits of school sport.
“Sport is integrated into the school system and there must be better communication and full support of teachers, parents and other key stakeholders,” he said.
With all the work YBG has been doing in improving schools basketball, one could assume that they will achieve their ultimate goal of consistently large numbers of student athletes who are basketball players going to colleges in the United States on full scholarships in no time.
The NSBF is currently ongoing and will conclude on October 9.