Chris Bowman, co-director of Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG), the country’s leading youth development arm of the discipline, has disclosed that the maiden Tertiary Basketball League, was a monumental success, adding that plans are afoot for the improvement and evolution of the burgeoning programme.
This was stated during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport (SS). The transcript of the interview is featured below in its entirety.
SS: Following the successful staging of the maiden Tertiary Basketball League, how would YBG describe the event in its entirety?
CB “The Tertiary Basketball League [TBL] was a terrific success on every level. We knew there was a large pool of youth basketball players 18 to 21-years-old within our tertiary institutions across Guyana who were not catered for post-NSBF [National Schools Basketball Festival]. Many of these players would have ended their school basketball careers on a high but had no clear path for continued development as serious athletes. There was a huge gap between school ball and senior-club ball. This did not only affect the players but also their supporters who had followed them since their high school playing days. So the TBL was in a way naturally set up to succeed and it did. We are still getting calls from other tertiary institutions who all said they are looking forward to playing in the next edition.
“We were particularly pleased with the fan support each night. It was an organic thing, and this made us realise over the last 15 years we weren’t only creating the new generation of basketball players but also basketball fans. A huge part of the TBL success also had to do with the quality of games.”
SS: What were some of the factors which impeded YBG from staging this event years prior?
CB: “The biggest challenge for basketball to progress and grow at the youth level is funding and facilities. So we have to do a lot of prioritising, making the hard decision of what we use the limited resources that we have for; and being the only basketball organisation catering to youth- level nationally and year-round, it is hard to do everything. So we have had to ‘cut our eyes’ as they say on some good things. Actually, we didn’t even have the budget for this first Tertiary Basketball League, but we saw an opportunity and the timing was right. Certainly, it will be in our budget next year, so the teams could expect more awards and incentives, including an increase in the cash prizes.”
SS: How does YBG intend or plan to build on this venture, and ultimately improve the product, which obviously has a place in youth development?
CB: “Absolutely, the TBL will be among the best sports entertainment products in the next few years. We have a lot of ideas on how to do this, so we will sit down with the schools involved because they will have to play an important role in leveraging the full potential of the league. It will be a partnership between YBG and participating schools.”
SS. Does YBG have the intention or aim of staging leagues in the other notable categories, with special emphasis on the Girls format?
CB “Of course, this same model will be used for women’s basketball. We are currently working on an initiative named “Girls Play” which should come on stream in the summer. This is something we are very excited to do.”
