The female senior national basketball team continues to work towards their participation in the 11th Annual Gillian Brazier Basketball Shoot-Out for females in Antigua from November 24 – 28, with weekly practice sessions and fundraising activities to assist with purchasing airline tickets.
President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, David Patterson told Stabroek Sport yesterday that preparations are “coming along quite well.”
According to Patterson, the GABF has already confirmed the participation of the national female team and the registration fee of US$150 plus US$25 performance bond has been submitted.
Patterson said preparations are well on stream and the main aim of the female team now is acquiring the tickets for the trip.
“We’ve got most of the tickets we just need to get the final set of tickets,” said Patterson.
According to the GABF president, LIAT Airways has assisted the team by offering airline tickets at a price discount, using the group tickets package for members of the team.
In an effort to alleviate some of the cost of the tickets on the GABF and team members, the team in collaboration with the GABF has recently held raffles and cake sales.
In addition, some members of the team who are financially able to stand the cost of their own tickets have done so.
Patterson explained that following the fundraisers, the GABF will cover the rest of the total cost of the tickets and the remaining tickets are expected to be acquired by the end of the week.
At present, the female squad that is currently in training for the upcoming trip to Antigua contains 16 players, according to coach of the national female team, Mark Agard, who also spoke to Stabroek Sport yesterday.
Agard emphasized that the female team has been in training since it was expected that they would’ve played against a female team out of South Carolina, USA last August.
However, the South Carolina female team was unable to make the trip to Guyana and the national female team took a break from training. Nevertheless, training has resumed, Agard said.
“The female team was on top of their game so now it’s just to pick up where we left off and continue with the same type of form they had for the South Carolina team,” Agard said.
“I have seen great improvements in the ball handling and overall skill in the team, but we didn’t get to put them to the test against South Carolina to see where the skill level was at in comparison, but we will be going to Antigua and display the same level of mature basketball,” Agard added.
According to the coach, the last time the senior female national team left Guyana to compete overseas was approximately three years ago when they participated in the same tournament in Antigua and placed second after they lost in the final of the competition to one of Antigua’s senior female teams.
Agard added that the national team was unable to participate in the tournament in the past couple of years due to financial constraints.
However, the team will be returning this year with the hopes of bettering their last performance in the competition.
The female team is scheduled to arrive in Antigua on November 23 or the morning of November 24 and depart on November 29 following the competition.
The winning team at the end of the tournament will be awarded US$1000, along with a trophy and 15 medals while the second and third place teams will receive a trophy and 15 medals each.
Individual awards will also be presented at the end of the tournament to the Most Valuable Player, the player with the most points, most assists, most steals, most rebounds (offensively and defensively) and most blocked shots.
There will also be a coach’s award and an award for the most disciplined player.
