2016 was simply remarkable for local basketball, CASH

The major successes and highlights for the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) for 2016 exceeded expectations and reflected well on the capacity of Guyana. GABF got the job done in a special year for Guyana, when we celebrated our 50th year of independence; and even the slip-ups along the way were used as learning opportunities and corrective actions were taken that resulted in improvements.

The GABF started the memorable year with the National Club Championships

The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall is the “Mecca” of Indoor Basketball in Guyana
The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall is the “Mecca” of Indoor Basketball in Guyana

popularly known as the Road to Mecca, which was in its third cycle, in March and spilled over to April. The tournament was keenly contested and saw the dominant teams Colts from Georgetown and Raiders from Linden playing in the finals.

However, the first final ended in dispute due to officiating and executive intervention which prompted the GABF to fly in two FIBA certified referees from Barbados to officiate in the replayed finals where they were joined by the FIBA certified referee from Guyana, Sherwyn Henry. Colts won the replayed finals and fans and the basketball public were generally satisfied with the final outcome.

By the end of April, Guyana was in the middle of organizing for the July hosting of the Under-16 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships when nine male teams; Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname were hosted while the females; Dominica, Jamaica and Aruba did not participate.

Guyana young men placed second to Bahamas and our young women showed their competitiveness and eagerness to play basketball as they played with a will to win against players who were much more prepared and experienced at this level.

For their exceptional efforts, the Guyanese U-16 Men’s Team qualified for the CentroBasket U17 Championships (Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean) scheduled for the Dominican Republic in July 2017.

Youth Basketball Guyana played significant roles in the preparedness of our young men and women, as their annual Youth Basketball Championships enhanced the quality of players that the GABF selected for the U16 Championships.

Hosting the championships and the preparedness of Guyana in terms of accommodation, transportation, up to standard Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), security and general organization of the double event between July 2-17, required not only the unbending leadership of the GABF, but also the substantial financial support from the key players in Guyana. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Presidency were pivotal in ensuring that the GABF received direct cash funds of $40 Million, while the Corporate Community and Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) supported with approximately $10 Million in direct cash funding.

The National Sports Commission (NSC) accelerated their capital expenditure programme to ensure that CASH’s facilities and aesthetic were ready while the financial advances loaned to the NSC by GABF were more than critical.

The other achievements for 2016, included the participation of Guyana in the U-15 FIBA Americas CentroBasket held in Puerto Rico during August which was aided in no small way by New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation and GABF executives. Guyana came away with the best rebounder trophy and the compounded recognition of the vital need to have overseas based Guyanese as part of the team.

Inter-Guiana Games was hosted by the NSC at the recently renovated CASH in October and the basketball games were well attended, however our Suriname counterparts won both the male and female championships which saw under-19 players going at each other.

In November of 2016, Guyana visited Jamaica to participate in the Tri-Nation tournament that included Jamaica Senior and Junior teams and Libertyville Vipers from the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) semi-professional league. The Guyana team comprising a mix of young and senior players achieved second place at the end of the tournament, with young stars such as Terron Welch and Stanton Rose leading the way, under the skilled captaincy of Akeem Kanhai and the solid Centre play of Shane Webster.

Also in November, GABF held the U-17 3X3 Championships in accordance with FIBA regulations; the winning team comprising players from Kwakwani and Georgetown, namely Stanton Rose, Jonathan Mangra, Timothy Thompson and Jamal Willes will represent Guyana from February 24-27, 2017 in St. Lucia. The coordinator and coach for the Guyana U-17 3X3 team is Junior Hercules, who has been a remarkable utility executive for the Federation.

For 2017, GABF will focus more on strengthening its internal capacity, inclusive of its affiliates from Linden, Georgetown and Berbice, upgrading the Burnham Court, and basketball courts in other regions, improving our financial standing, financially supporting our affiliates and having regular meeting with stakeholders. We have already purchased and installed a 1,000 watts lamp at Burnham Court and by the end of March we will have the full complement of four 1,000 watt lamps at our main outdoor playing facility in Georgetown.

There will be no senior male CBC championship in 2017, however, plans are being made by CBC to have the senior female championships in 2017 at a location still to be decided on. Once the female regional championships are being held, GABF will seek to have overseas based Guyanese on the team to ensure the competitiveness of the Guyana team.

The GABF executive takes this opportunity to thank all the stakeholders, especially the Government of Guyana for their sterling support.