… as donors jostle for ‘And 1’ play
From Gary H. Tim
in New York
New York (SMS) — As the days chip away towards the fifth running of the Victory Valley Royals (VVR) club’s annual Linden Schools Basketball Championships, committed contributors are jostling each other to deliver their dowries to the tourney’s sponsorship sachet. And they are getting their way.
Last Tuesday, club executives in the USA, dispatched a large assortment of gear for the tourney. The gear comprised several items that represent a donation shift from previous years. But, organizers call the jostling an ‘alley hoop’ for the actual tourney in April.
“People want to input more to see the tourney develop, and they got their own little friendly game outdoing each other at it,” club pioneer Linden ‘Sancho’ Alphonso said at the VVR’s New York desk.
Roosting atop the list of donors upping the ante is former Linden basketballer Kenny Chapman who clawed up the tabs for the champion team’s trophies and replicas, this year. For the NYC subway technician, this is in addition to his usual contribution of sourcing the teams’ competition gear.
Chapman got the jump-shot on the items’ regular donor, Leon Moe to deliver the endowments, prompting Alphonso to insist that “even donors are getting competitive.
“That was a sort of one-on-one for Kenny and Moey, and it’s a healthy precursor for the event,” he declared.
Moe, however, bounced back to outnumber young Roderick Alphonso in donating game balls, as he ‘dunked’ nine Wilson-brand NCAA-grade balls which will be used for the event.
Moe’s bequest is supplemented by four spanking, authentic NCAA Final Four basketballs given by Alphonso, the 2006 MVP who took his team, Macken-zie High School (MHS) to the crown in season two.
Moe, a vice-president of the club, said he has been to every staging, but was specially impressed by the high level of organization and enjoyment evident at the 2008 event.
“I can still remember the faces of some kids who came up to me and said ‘Thank You’, and that makes me want to do it more and more for them. You got to love ‘GT’ to do something good for ‘GT’, he recalled.
Mindful of the rippling effects of the economic crisis, the VVR USA-Chapter is lauding the “selflessness and interest of our supporters,” most of whom have been with the event from the inception.
“Some people who support us have been adversely affected, but we were able to see others step-up. These are people you don’t have to ask twice or remind,” the club pioneer related.
Apart from Moe, Chapman and Alphonso, the tourney gets robust donations from overseas-based Lennox Allicock, Sabrina Arjune, Fatima Blount, Wayne Bryant, Ronald and Simone Grogan, Marlon Josiah, Orin Louison, Audrey Singh, Maxie Stephens, Shudwick Wade and the Haynes Basket-ball Foundation (HBF).
The donations help outfit every team with distinctly different uniforms (vests, trunks and socks), as well as provide gear for the officials.
Balls, nets and added game equipment are also supplied with refreshments and other direct costs incurred by the participating teams also being absorbed; all tagging the 2009 tourney at a cost of $865,000.
The VVR collaborates with the Education Department and the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) to conduct the tourney, along with other enduring supporters in the area who aid the event in various ways. The 2009 event will run along similar lines to past years; starting with group play and then onto the championship games as part of observances for Linden Town Week.
Continuing its unique feature, the club has earmarked Linden-born superstar athlete Marian Burnett to be the tourney’s patron this year. A past student of defending champs, MHS, Burnett’s association with the event is part of an endeavour to link the community’s high achievers with each year’s competition. Last year, Guyana’s Consul General to New York, Brentnol Evans, was the patron, and Alphonso opined that “their names are given in Guyanese circles all over, and their success stories and role model status can be encouraging to the youths.”
This year, the organizers will, again, run a ‘supplemental’ U-15 tourney during Youth Week, as a continuation of the ‘feeling out’ process. “Last year the response was great. We had talent above what was expected. Definitely, we’re doing it again,” Alphonso confirmed, adding that these efforts “speak of our passion to develop basketball, sports in general, and Linden on the whole.”
“We don’t have a trust factor problem. People are willing to do it for what it’s worth. They don’t get any tax exempt considerations for their donations, there are no such strings attached. Those who help, do so from the heart and out of their pockets”
That convinces the VVR that their efforts are admired by many in sports fraternities at home and in the diaspora who see the tourney as another well executed event in the mining town. Team VVR-USA has been described as honorable, ingenuous and absolutely optimistic, provoking Moe to want to “expand the tourney to other areas in the country and for female students.”
This year, the club intends to heighten fan support by offering incentives to students and other supporters who “make their cheering mark felt”. However, the nature of the proposed enticements is being kept “close to the chest so as to retain the surprise element,” according to an enthusiastic Moe. Similar to previous years, the VVR will also honour two club members during the tourney.
Moe conceded that while preparing for the tourney since last October, they were understandably overshadowed by the 19th Kashif and Shanghai football competition through early January, but contended that this event adds variety by reaching a different sport, age group and at a different time.
“Without a doubt, we duly praise the media’s sweeping coverage of the 2008 tourney and how they showcased the potential brilliance within the school environment,” he alluded.
“We like the fact that these youngsters have enhanced the status quo of basketball in the region,” Moe vaunted ahead of Alphonso’s own brag over teams from the region finishing 1-2-4 in the last national schools championships. “It’s inspiring that players from our tourney featured prominently there,” Alphonso added.
