The basketball competition which was previously advertised as the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) `Super 8 Wards` Basketball Championship has been renamed the `Mackeson National Super Wards’ Basketball Championship and will begin on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
President of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Trevor Rose made this announcement at the official launching of the inaugural competition yesterday at GABA’s office in Garnett Street, Kitty.
Ansa Mcal has established themselves as a major sponsor of the tournament and it has been renamed because of their substantial contribution and the addition of two teams from Kitty/Campbellville and South Ruimveldt.
Brand Coordinator of Ansa Mcal, Nigel Worrell, stated at the launching yesterday that basketball has not been getting support from the corporate community over the years.
He added that because of this…“Mackeson has decided to take it up a notch and actually make it work, not just for basketball, but for sports on the whole.”
Another major sponsor present at the launching was Giftland Office Max. They were represented by their Marketing Manager, Compton Babb. Babb emphasized that Giftland’s was always eager to assist in every way possible, especially when it pertains to sports. Giftland’s will be sponsoring the trophies and medals for the championship, along with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
The championship will begin with an opening ceremony on Saturday which will include performances from local artistes and a march past of the teams.
GABA has provided uniforms for all the teams in the competition and they have also given the venue a facelift for the upcoming championship.
The competition is scheduled for 12 nights, with an additional two nights for added games and attractions. It will be contested by 10 teams which include North Ruimveldt, South Ruimveldt, Kitty /Campbellville, Albouys-town- Charlestown, Wortmanville-Work-en-Rust, Central Mackenzie, Christianburg, New Amsterdam, East Bank and East Coast.
The teams will be divided into two groups of five and they will play a round-robin, at the end of which the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals play-off stage, then to the best-of-three finals.
The first prize is a massive half a million dollars, second prize $250,000, third prize $150,000 and $75,000 for the fourth place team. There will also be individual prizes for outstanding players.
This is the first time the inter-ward competition will be taking a national spin and it is anticipated to be one of the biggest basketball competitions in the country.
Other sponsors of the competition are GT&T, Gizmo’s and Gadgets, Stain Masters and Tony’s Auto Spares. Rose also acknowledged the assistance of the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Sports.
