President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federa-tion (GABF) retired Col. Godwin McPherson has disclosed that the newly trained coaches will be utilized in the federation’s planned rural development programme.
Mc Pherson was speaking at the closing of the 10-day Coaches Clinic organized by the GABF in conjunction with the “Reds” Perreira Sports Foundation and conducted by Grenadian basketball instructor Fitzgerald “Naka” Joseph at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Sunday.
McPherson said that the federation would be making arrangements for the coaches to visit Linden, Berbice, Essequibo and other areas on a regular basis in an effort to stimulate interest in those areas. Joseph, who is the Technical Director of the Grenada Basketball Assoc-iation, conducted sessions twice daily and held training programmes with several clubs in Georgetown during his stay in Guyana.
Joseph said that the coaches were very enthusiastic and expressed confidence that they had the ability to take basketball to a higher level.
According to Joseph, the federation’s plans for training in rural communities would impact positively on the development of basketball in the country.
Troy Peters, Liaison Officer of the `Reds’ Perreira Foundation said his organization was pleased to be associated with the clinic and expressed his gratitude to Joseph for coming to Guyana to impart his knowledge with the local coaches.
Peters called on the coaches to give back to the players the knowledge they had acquired during the clinic.
Joseph has been the Technical Director of the Grenada Basketball Assoc-iation for the past 20 years and heads the `Naka’ Joseph Basketball School in St. George’s.
He has attended several clinics in the United States at the University of Idaho, University of Illinois, Duke University and at the University of North Carolina.
Joseph has also attended two certification programmes (NCCP) in Canada.
He left Guyana yesterday.