Nikkoloi Smith, Dominic Vincente and Dominique Douglas will headline the 2012 junior national basketball team to the Inter-Guiana Games slated for French Guiana later this year.
The 20-man squad named by the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) organization is said to have some of the best young talent in Guyana.
The squad will contain four third-year players in Vincente, Smith, Douglas and Linden Fraser along with two second-year players in Martin Weatherspoon and Dave Plass.
While the talented bunch have been put together they will be unable to go through the regular full-fledged training camp like their predecessors since the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) will be unavailable for use due to a science fair that is currently in progress there until September 30.
However, IGG basketball coordinator and YBG president Chris Bowman believes that the team will be ready and set when the IGG rolls around later in the year.
“We would have liked to have the same process we use every year but we won’t be able to and we have to adjust and I think the team will adapt and will be ready for IGG,” Bowman told Stabroek Sport in a telephone interview.
Bowman also pointed out the main purpose of the training camp while noting that he and the team will remain positive in the pursuit of IGG success.
“The training camp is to develop coordination and run plays. I knew what we would have liked but the team is going to be ok.
“We won’t look at the obstacles and the negatives but we will remain positive because we don’t want to make excuses for not performing but the fact is the team is going to be ready,” Bowman stated.
It was also learnt by Stabroek Sport that Bowman is collaborating with the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Ministry of Sports to help with some facilities for the training of the team.
“We were given permission by the Ministry of Sports to use the Carifesta Complex. We will also have the same indoor activity as we have been in talks with the NSC and the volleyball association to use the Gymnasium and we already have rings there,” Bowman said.
However, according to Bowman, the only activity they will be unable to pull off is the Elite 24 game which would have been twelve of the best players versus twelve of the best players from around Guyana facing off against each other. The game will not bounce off owing to the unavailability of the CASH. Meanwhile Bowman expressed his confidence in the team and thanked the NSC for their support throughout the tournaments and for providing locations for training sessions.
Full squad: Dominic Vincente, Nikkoloi Smith, Dominique Douglas, Linden Fraser, Dave Plass, Martin Weatherspoon, Quincy Easton, Dwight Gray, Shaka Codrington, Jonathan Pooran, Akheel Primo, Leonard Primo, Joseph Gilkes, Elvis Thompson, Parish Codogan, Joel Webster, Taquain Vieira, Emmanuel Archibald, Travin Drydan and Nyambikieri Bacchus.
