The Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) Division Two and Three Knockout tournaments have been plagued with postponements and since its recent stoppage it shows no sign of a restart.
The two tournaments, namely the ‘Kevin Worrell Third Division Knockout Tournament’ and ‘GABA’s Second Division Knockout Tournament’, both being contested at the Burnham Basketball Court were recently brought to a halt because its schedule clashed with that of the basketball events of the Inter Guiana Games (IGG).
However, the IGG has ended and the tournaments have still not restarted, owing to the absence of a backboard at the outdoor facility.
The Burnham Court backboard was removed and used as a replacement for the one of the backboards in the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), which was broken by a member of the Suriname basketball team during the IGG.
Originally, the backboard that was removed from the Burnham Court belonged to the CASH, since backboards at the Sport Hall were replaced and new ones were installed for the IGG basketball events which were held at the facility.
However, since the removal of the board, the Burnham court remains one backboard short, bringing the Division Two and Three tournaments to a halt.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport yesterday, GABA’s President Trevor Rose stated that he did not protest the removal of the backboard from the Burnham Court since he had only requested to borrow it for two weeks.
“Our own was broken and we had borrowed one from the National Sports Commission, they had a pair in there as reserves, but during the IGG one was broken in the Sports Hall so they sent to collect that one”
“I wasn’t in a position to dispute it because initially when I borrowed it, I borrowed it with the intention of us getting our own in two weeks. I told them I want it on a loan for two weeks, so the period for when I borrowed it was already expired so I didn’t dispute anything”.
According to Rose, two brand new backboards were acquired by GABA and shipped to Guyana. He revealed that the backboards are presently “at the airport” awaiting clearance.
“Soon as we get some funds we will clear them”, Rose noted, adding: “sooner or later we will get our own, it’s just a matter of getting some funds available to us, and we will get our own on Burnham Court”.
