-says Joe Chapman
The local basketball has been plunged into a state of mourning following the death of long serving President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) retired Col. Godwin McPherson on Monday following a brief illness.
The late Mc Pherson was elected President of the GABF in 1991 and remained at the helm until his death.
The former senior army officer will be remembered for his pugnacious effort to revive basketball back in the early 90’s when the sport was almost dormant locally.
He was instrumental in Guyana hosting the Caricom Basketball Championships back in 1994, the last time the event was staged in Guyana and served as head of the local organising committee.
Veteran basketball administrator and sports journalist, Joe Chapman was part of a group of basketball administrators, the others being Theron Caesar and Cecil Chin who approached McPherson to head the Federation back in 1991 and he willingly accepted the position although he never played the game.
“Colonel Mc Pherson was known to be close to football and cricket at the time we approached him but he was very keen to serve and in a very short time we were able to put together a team to compete in the regional championships in Jamaica,” Chapman recalled.
During his tenure, Guyana’s women team won a gold medal at the Caricom championships in Trinidad and Tobago in 1996 while two years earlier the local men’s squad clinched a silver medal at the regional tournament at home and a bronze in 2002.
Mc Pherson who acted as Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force for one year in the absence of Joe Singh was also influential in the construction of a basketball court at Camp Seweyo for national teams to train.
He worked with former players in the Diaspora which saw the birth of the DC Jammers series featuring Guyanese based in the United States who returned home for the tournament and to vie for selection on the national team.
The former army officer faced serious challenges recently as head of the GABF but made a final push earlier this year for Guyana to host the CBC championships but his efforts did not materialise.
He once headed the organising committee for Guyana Games in the 80’s.
Col. McPherson was also the Administrator of the Critchlow Labour College at the time of his death.
