The Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) Division Two and Three Knockout tournament which was scheduled to commence last Saturday, but was rescheduled to Wednesday last, has been postponed again due to “some unforeseen hiccups”.
GABA’s president, Trevor Rose explained to Stabroek Sport yesterday that the tournament, which will be played at the Burnham Basketball Court, was postponed from its scheduled, last Wednesday tip-off date to Saturday due to unforeseen hitches which included a breakdown in communication between organisers and officials and the theft of the officials’ table that was housed at the competition venue.
However, Rose explained that following a GABA executive meeting it was affirmed that the tournament will bounce off this weekend and the GABA head assured that the tournament’s commencement is “definitely set for Saturday (tomorrow)”.
This will be the first Division Two tournament to be contested since Rose acceded to the post as president of GABA and it’s been three years since a Division Two competition was contested in Georgetown, but the new delay tournament leaves basketball fans wondering, ‘when will it begin?’
On the first instance, Rose explained that the postponement of the Division Two and Three competitions was due to “a matter of finalizing the fixtures” since errors were made while formulating the initial fixtures for the event and the necessary corrections had to be made.
Division two and three teams from Georgetown’s most recognized basketball clubs and some newly formed clubs will be contesting the tournament under lights from Saturday, beginning with the Division Three competition, titled the ‘Kevin Worrell Third Division Knockout Tournament’, in memory of the late Courts Pacesetters basketball player, Kevin Worrell.
Meanwhile, the Division Two competition will be staged under GABA’s banner as ‘GABA’s Second Division Knockout Tournament’ and will be contested concurrently with the Division Three competition.
Following Saturday’s jump-off at 6pm, the Division Three competition will continue on Wednesdays and Saturdays, while the Division Two tournament will be contested on Sundays and Thursdays, until the finals of both competitions.
Game one of the Division Three tournament on Saturday will see the Beepat Scorpions going up against the newly formed basketball club, West Side, hailing from West Demerara, while the Ravens will take on the Nirva Knights from 20:00 hrs in the second and final game of the night.
Meanwhile, the Division Two tournament will get started on Sunday night with an opening game between Nets and also newly formed club, Plaisance Guardians followed by the evenings feature clash between Beepat Scorpions and the Guyana Defence Force.