Competitive Basketball returns this evening, at 17:00hrs, with the One Guyana Basketball League which will tip off at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue and Princes Street.

This event will showcase aspiring basketball talents vying for a chance to represent Guyana on the global stage. And, more importantly, according to head of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Jermaine Slater, this league will provide players with consistent and long-term competition, something that all stakeholders have been calling for throughout the years.

The league will feature 14 teams grouped into the Harpy Eagle Conference and the Jaguar Conference, set to compete in a projected range of 56 to 63 games.

Slater, whose association is the organising body, emphasised that this league’s structure deviates from the conventional knockout format, providing teams with increased court time. This extended playtime will facilitate skill development and nurture both players and coaches. The league’s format allows each team to participate in at least six regular-season games, and the top four teams will engage in two best-of-three series during the playoffs. This expanded format offers teams more chances to understand their opponents and fine-tune their strategies.

During the league, teams from the Jaguar and Harpy Eagle Conferences will face each other twice within their respective groups. The top four teams will progress to the playoffs, where the first-ranked team will compete against the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will take on the third-ranked team. The victors of these playoff matches will move on to the Conference Finals, where they will engage in a best-of-three series to determine the finalists for the National Championship.

Participating teams in the Jaguar Conference include Stabroek Eagles, Leonora D-UP Rising Stars, Cummingsburg Bounty Colts, Lamaha Park/Springs Pepsi Sonics, Bagotstown/Prospect Kobras, Cummings Lodge, and UG Trojans. Meanwhile, the Harpy Eagle Conference features teams including Kitty/Campbellville Ravens, South Ruimveldt Ravens, Plaisance Guardians, Guyana Defence Force, Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust Pacesetters, North Ruimveldt Caimans, and Kwakwani Untouchables.

The championship-winning team will receive a prize of $1 million, along with trophies, while the runners-up will be awarded $500,000 along with trophies. The successful execution of this tournament has been made possible through sponsorships from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, G-Boats Guyana, National Sports Commission, Guyana Basketball Federation, and Georgetown Basketball Federation.