GABF proposes indoor facility at St Stanislaus College
IN an effort to help decentralise the game of basketball and offer equal opportunities to players in Berbice and Linden, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, will be working with the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) to develop courts in the respective communities.
Michael Singh, president of the GABF, told Chronicle Sport that the discussions of facilities and elite athletes funding took the lion’s share of their meeting at the National Racquet Centre on Tuesday.
It was the second meeting between GABF and Minister Ramson, with the first taking place at the same location on August 12.
After being sworn in on August 5 by President Dr Irfaan Ali, Ramson had vowed to transform sports in a way where everyone can benefit, especially athletes from outside of Georgetown.
According to Singh, Minister Ramson has promised to assist basketball – a sport he’s most fond of and is known among players – having dabbled in the sport over the years.
“We discussed decentralising the game and having proper facilities around, especially in Linden and Berbice. We’re looking at the Amelia’s Ward basketball court. Rose Hall Jammers have a plot of land that they own in Berbice, so we’re looking to work with them to have those facilities developed,” Singh said.
At present, there’s no proper basketball court in Linden, with the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) facility in a deplorable state and unwelcoming to the sport and the Amelia’s Ward hard court lacking basic infrastructure to host games.
Singh said the fact that Linden, a place known for providing Guyana with some of its best basketball players, is lacking in the area of facilities, tells how much the sport is in dire need for some input from the ministry.
Developing Saints’ Indoor Facility
At present, only Cliff Anderson Sports Hall can accommodate basketball at an International standard with Guyana’s only other indoor facility, the National Gymnasium, used only for other sports.
As such, Singh revealed that GABF has since handed over a plan to Minister Ramson, to develop an indoor facility at the St Stanislaus College.
Singh explained to Chronicle Sport that the GABF will be banking on the fact that the country’s Head of State, Dr Ali is a former student of the institution and with that in mind, they hope it finds favour with the Government of Guyana.
“We had the plan. We handed it to Minister Ramson and it’s an idea that he welcomes and supports fully. Right now we’re in talks with the St Stanislaus College and the patrons of the school, the Fernandes, to draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), so we can proceed,” the former Colts player said.
According to Singh, GABF is highly optimistic of a fruitful outcome to its plans for the ‘Saints’ facility.
“That’s just one facility and we’re hoping to see more developed, especially in Linden. We at GABF think that it will raise the game in a significant way and truly help the development of Guyana basketball,” Singh highlighted.
Meanwhile, when asked about the return of competition, Singh noted, “We’re ready right now to have tournaments. In fact, we have a mandate now to run off several 3-on-3 tournaments, which we’re hoping to have by the end of the year. However, right now, like everyone else, we have to wait on the Government to give us the green light.”
