ALL systems are in place for the opening game this afternoon  when the 9th edition of the Linden Secondary Schools’ Under-19 basketball championship bounces off at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court following what should be a very colourful March Past of the six contesting schools.

Organisers of this year’s event the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), up to Saturday held a ‘crash course’ for table officials and statisticians drawn from the schools to ensure there is adequate and competent officials, bearing in mind that some of its personnel will be unavailable due to work commitment when the matches are played during the early afternoon hours.
Secretary of the LABA Joseph Chapman said that most importantly over the weekend , the association was able to distribute the uniforms to the schools taking part, albeit late, due to having to source them locally, but was satisfied that the tournament will be staged with a very hectic first week to catch-up on playing dates.
The lone match to start off today’s proceedings will be between defending champions Linden Technical Institute (LTI) and Multi.
This afternoon’s opening ceremony will start at 15:00hrs and to add to this year’s opening, a detachment from the Linmine  Drum Corps is expected to lead the march past of the players and officials which will be attended by Regional Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara) Sharma Solomon, Linden Interim Management Committee Chairman Orin Gordon,  Linden Town Week Committee Chairman Eon Halls and Senior Physical Education Officer Lindie Langhorne.
Chapman said, that the fact matches are slated for each day of this first week of action tells, it all, of how the association is keen on having the tournament completed as scheduled on May 1 with the final.
He said the association was comforted by the fact that Two Brothers Gas Station made a significant contribution in funding the uniforms for the various schools and looked forward to other sponsors coming on board even as the tournament bounces off today.
The LABA official admitted that the first week will be extremely important to the conclusion of the championship as the schools will be hard pressed playing from today through to Friday, beginning at 14:30hrs with the first game and the second at 16:00hrs.
Several trophies, replicas and medals are at stake for this year’s tournament and among the many sponsors are: Euron Equipment Repairs, Maxi Stephens, Marlon Josiah, Orin Louison, and Linden ‘Sancho’ Alphonso all based in the United States of America along with Two Brothers Gas Station, Slingerz Family of West Demerara and local beverage giants Banks DIH Limited.