THE Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) recently tipped off action in its U-23 club league, seeking to develop and grow the sport over time through a nursery.

President of GABA and former national player, Jermaine Slater, said the league –which is similar to the just concluded eight-month-long One Guyana senior league – is intended to cater to much younger players who will then feed into the second edition of the senior edition later this year.

“This is the youth version of the One Guyana league, where we will see the new skill; so some of these same players, competing here now, might be available for the one Guyana premier basketball league coming up in August,” Slater said.

He says the competition was critical as they looked to have sustained high-quality basketball at the senior level.

“This is a building ground and this will continue to be a building ground for out One Guyana league going forward,” the GABA head added.
The youths, Slater said, have showed their skill sets and that made the hosting of the competition all the more rewarding.

“Even though the youths have not had much league lately, this crop here right now is playing good basketball. They understand their game, the fundamentals are there and they are now charged with ensuring they have fundamentals practice session’

He says having a youth team is a prerequisite for entering into the One Guyana and those teams’ work behind the scenes at the youth level will improve the quality of play of the youngsters.
One of the reasons, in the past, for the average quality of play, was the absence of consistent competitions which they have set about to correct through these leagues.

“We plan at the association to ensure there are as much games as possible for these youths; they will develop. We do have to plan a semi-professional league further into the future, so this is basically a stepping stone.”

The GABA head said that while players have lofty aspirations, they are working from the ground to ensure that GABA has the knowledge and the tools to achieve success in colleges and other leagues outside of Guyana.

The U-23 league is sponsored by Wilson Plumbing Services and General Supplies.
Games are played every Wednesday and Saturday at the National Gymnasium hard Court.

The league features 12 teams namely Stabroek eagles, Cummingsburg Bounty Colts, Leonora D-Up Rising Stars, North Ruimveldt Ravens, Lamaha Springs Sonics, and Meadowbrook nets in group A
The other teams are Kwakwani Untouchables, Prospect Kobras, Black Caimans, Worthmanville Pacesetters, Albertown Knights and Cummings Lodge UG Trojans in Group B
The teams will battle it out in a round robin format with the top two in each group meeting in the semifinals on June 19th with the finals set for June 22.