In an effort to create stronger structures at the secondary school level, the Guyana Basketball Federation [GABF] in partnership with the Guyana Olympic Association [GOA] will commence a National Basketball Grassroots Athlete Training Programme (NBGAP).
This was revealed by programme coordinator and national coach Junior Hercules during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport.
The programme, which is scheduled to commence on October 4th at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, will be conducted twice [Saturdays and Sundays] a week for the duration of four fours.
The program which is projected to last for the timeline of six months, will cater for approximately 24 institutions.
Among the schools that are expected to feature include St. Joseph’s High, Central High, Brickdam, Richard Ishmael, Cummings Lodge, Christ Church, St. John’s College, Queen’s College, Bishops’ High, St. Rose’s High and the Business School.
According to Hercules, the NBGAP is designed with the intention of highlighting the development of student-athletes who have strong interests in the sport and to showcase their ability, talent, and commitment to becoming future Olympians.
Hercules added, “The objective of this program is to identify and nurture talents and to provide them with a technical support base. The reasons for the program, they are not many coaches attached to the schools and by default there are at a disadvantage with regards to given the right training. They just don’t have access to a coach. We felt and want to make the playing field equal, we want to give them access to coaches with the intention of highlighting, exposing and ultimately selecting talented athletes who are committed to going beyond the school program and entering the tertiary, national and Olympic levels.”
He added, “We starting at Form Three because at that stage you know what sport you want to participate in. The program is geared towards all schools whether public or private, we are not discriminating.”
Hercules revealed that the programme is the brainchild of the GABF, disclosing, “This is coming from the GABF standpoint which is something we would have engaged the GOA on. This is about creating stronger structures at the youth level and the reason why we centralize the programme is to be able to properly manage and administer its initial implementation. We will use this pilot phase to tweak other areas, as we have interests in Berbice and Linden and entering other regions,” he ended.
Questioned about the areas that will be covered during the program, he disclosed, “We will cover the basics of the game, the primary objective is exposing them to fundamentals, catching, passing, dribbling, shooting, and layups. What we will do among that is that we will also expose them to things we believe they should know at this age. We want to use this forum as an opportunity for a scholarship pipeline.”
He further revealed, “Presently two coaches have confirmed their participation, we are anticipating a minimum of 10 persons per schools, if we can have a minimum of four coaches that will be ideal.”
