Basketball fans in the city can gear themselves for eight nights of pulsating action in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) 3rd Division and Open Knockout championships set for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The event which runs from November 20-29 is being sponsored by Lens Craft, Hits and Jams Television (HJTV), Windjammers Hotel and Fact and Roses.
Ten teams will contest the open tournament which offers a winner’s purse of $100,000 and a second place prize of $50,000, besides trophies which are sponsored by Windjammers Hotel.
Defending GABA League Champions Courts Pacesetter and their rivals Dyna’s Ravens are seeded as the number one and two teams in that division followed by Nets, Pepsi Sonics, Bounty Colts, Beepat Scorpions, Maccabees, Demerara Colours Panthers, Eagles and newcomers East/West Fire in the cellar.
The Courts-sponsored team will also be seeded at the top of the 11-team 3rd Division knockout tournament with Demerara Colours Panthers second.
Maccabees, Pepsi Sonics, Dyna’s Ravens, Bounty Colts, Beepat Scorpions, Eagles, newcomers Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Melanie Patriots along with Nets in that order are the other teams in the 3rd Division tournament which will be played for trophies and replicas.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, GABA President Trevor Rose admitted that in their first tenure in office, not enough basketball was played and so they have planned a rigorous 2010 season. He said further that the 3rd Division and Open Knockout tournament along with a nationwide inter-ward tournament would be a precursor of what the local players could expect from the GABA.
“Well I know that for a fact we didn’t get a chance to play enough basketball in the last season but I think players can certainly look out for a busy year in 2010. I think we have plenty basketball, which should run us until August, so I think that there will not even be room for rest,” Rose said.
But while the GABA head acknowledged that much basketball wasn’t played in the city, he was very pleased that they were able to have three new teams coming to the association and this, he noted, shows that players are still hungry to play the game.
Rose said also that for next year, they have “already secured the commitment from Lens Craft for the Second Division League and they seem quite concerned about getting the sport back on track. Also we will be teaming up with the National Sports Commission (NSC) to host a National School Championship so next year it will be basketball nonstop.”
GABA Secretary Robert ‘Bobby’ Cadogan said that the association was very thankful for the reduced price at which the NSC rented the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. He added that he was happy that they were very considerate since the present state of the outdoor facility makes it almost impossible for them to start their season outdoors and next year this will be one of the top priorities on the GABA agenda.
He said that next year they will be very busy, more so for the junior players, as he hoped that the National Schools Basketball Championships will give them a chance to select the best youngsters in the game.
“Well next year, I think we will need to have to start focusing on the Inter-Guiana Games once again and also the Junior Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) which is an under-18 tournament. So apart from getting our more senior players staying active we will need to come together with the Linden Association to see how we can have the junior players as active as possible,” Cadogan said.
The 3rd Division and Open Knockout tournament will commence with a march past of the participating clubs, followed by a 3rd Division clash between Demerara Colours Panthers and Nets and the lone open clash which will see Courts Pacesetters coming up against East/West Fire.
