GABA U23 Championships 2024: Stepping stone for “One Guyana” League

– says GABA President Jermaine Slater

With the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) U23 Championship underway since April 27th at the National Gymnasium, GABA President Jermaine Slater has emphasized the development of U23 basketball in a comment invited by Guyana Times Sport.

Slater, in declaring that the league is a stepping stone for the “One Guyana” Basketball League which commences in August,
expounded, “This is the youth version of the ‘One Guyana’ League; the U23 version, where we will see the new skills. Some of these same players that you see playing here now might be available for the ‘One Guyana’ Basketball Premier League coming up in August. So, this is a stepping stone, building ground, and there will continue to be a building ground for the ‘One Guyana’ League.”
Touching on the good performances showcased in the league thus far, Slater said:
“Well, so far it has been surprisingly good, even though the youths haven’t many leagues recently, these couple groups of youths have been playing very well. They understand the game, the fundamentals of the game, and the teams are now charged to ensure that they have fundamental practice sessions. If they don’t have fundamental practice sessions, they can’t enter ‘One Guyana’ League. So, now the teams are digging down in the training, so we can see it paying off in the U23 Tournament so far.”
The tournament kicked off with 12 teams being divided into two groups, named Group A and Group B, with a projected 34 games. The teams of Group A are: Stabroek Eagles, Leonora D-UP Rising Stars, Cummingsburg Bounty Colts, Lamaha Park/Springs Pepsi Sonics, North Ruimveldt Ravens, and Meadowbrook Nets.
The Group B squads are: Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust Pacesetters, Black Caimans, Kwakwani Untouchables, Prospect Kobras, Alberttown Valhalla Knights, and Cummings Lodge UG Trojans. (Omar Mckenzie)