Despite receiving some $20m from government and one million dollars from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and Quality Seafoods Inc., the Guyana Amateur basketball federation (GABF) says it is still short of the target for hosting the
Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) U16 championships next month.
At a press conference held at Cara Lodge Hotel Monday GABF president Nigel Hinds said: “We are not where we want to be because we didn’t push for funding during jubilee celebrations. We are now accelerating that process, and by the 15th of June, we will know for sure what our position is.”
Hinds noted that the event will coincide with Guyana’s staging of the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting and said that the GABF wants to ensure that the tournament reflects well on the country as officials from those nations will visit the championship to support their respective teams.
According to Hinds, the event has a total budget of 80 million dollars.
Meanwhile, former president of the GABF Joseph `Reds’ Perreira during brief remarks following a donation towards the event said the sport has evolved considerably from his time.
“I was happy that Guyana was awarded the Caribbean Championships. I hope that I can appeal to the private sector to come onboard with this development Championship,” said Perreira.
He said he hopes his donation towards the event could act as the catalyst which would encourage and generate support from the corporate sector.
Guyana secured the right to host the tournament which will be held July 2nd-16th. The CBC U16 Championships will qualify three teams to the 2017 CentroBasket U-17 Men and Women’s Championships.
Presently, 10 male and seven female national setups have confirmed their participation. In the Men’s section, the likes of Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and the hosts Guyana will battle for glory.
On the Women’s side, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the hosts Guyana are the confirmed entrants. The Youth Championship was last held in St John’s, Antigua in 2008, with Bahamas emerging the winner of both the Men’s and Women’s Championships.
