ANSA McAl yesterday launched their Mackeson 3-on-3 Smooth Moves Basketball competition at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and the live action is expected to tip off in three weeks at venues countrywide.
The tournament in this much shorter and faster version of the game garnered 150 registrants last year and was designed to bring attention back to the sport of basketball, said Public Relations Officer of ANSA McAl, Darshanie Yussuf, at the launching. “The tournament was originally created because we realized that a lot of attention was being placed on football and cricket so we wanted to do the same for basketball, in a way in which people would want to come out and support,” Yussuf stated.
Marketing Director of ANSA McAl, Troy Cadogan who was also at the launching believes that due to last year’s success of the tournament, ANSA McAl expects this year to be much better as the event will be spreading to more areas this time around.
“Last year we had about 150 teams registering and saw the sport of basketball rising again. This year I expect those numbers to rise because of last year’s success.
“In addition to that we will see the sport being played in more areas this year such as the East Bank and Berbice as we will also refurbish some of the courts in those communities,” Cadogan told media representatives. President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) David Patterson was present to endorse the event and he called for the introduction of the distaff side of the sport in the near future as well as sponsorship for a national 3-on-3 side.
“We at the GABF fully support the tournament and would hope that since the FIBA (International Federation of Basketball) is probing nations to introduce 3-on-3 basketball that ANSA McAl would be able to sponsor a national team if need be.
“Along with that the other issue I would like to address is that there is a need for a female part of the competition. They are the only national side to win a tournament and they should not be left behind,” Patterson stated.
Meanwhile as the prize money remains at $1,000,000, the option of choosing the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) All-star weekend as the winning prize will not be a feature this time around since the players have shown more interest in the money. Registration forms for teams will be in all the daily newspapers, according to Yussuf, or they can be uplifted at the ANSA McAl main office on the East Coast of Demerara.
Teams are expected to sign up for the competition within the next three weeks and are asked to drop in the forms at the main office of ANSA McAl.
