Jacobs accepts ABIIT basketball scholarship

Aug 26, 2008 Sports

– Courts to present airline ticket

By Edison Jefford
After months of serious thought, national women’s basketball player, Nichola Jacobs, has finally decided to take up an Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology (ABIIT) basketball scholarship.

Jacobs was offered the scholarship in Antigua in January after her dominant performance for a local touring team. However, she had told Kaieteur Sport that she is uncertain about accepting the erudition opportunity.

But in an exclusive interview yesterday, Jacobs emphatically indicated that she has made up her mind to leave Guyana. At ABIIT, the top female athlete will pursue a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration.

“At first, I didn’t think about it at all–I really didn’t want to leave but I thought about it afterwards and decided to take the offer,” Jacobs said, with an obvious reservation about the club she will represent in Antigua.

“I am not yet sure which club I will be playing for in Antigua,” she said. As part of the scholarship deal, the 29–year–old Jacobs must play some amount of basketball during the two–year duration of the programme.

Jacobs had toured Antigua with the Guyana Women’s Basketball Association in January where she was spotted. The only female ‘swingman’ in the sport, locally, overcame a career–threatening knee injury to impress the scouts.

“Everything is supposed to be in place by the time I leave on September 7. Overall, it’s a great opportunity for me to try and make Guyana proud again,” she said, reminiscing on her years as a national basketball player.

The forward by distinct ‘ball’ position, represented Guyana at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) championships at both the junior and senior levels: in Jamaica in 1997; Belize in 1998 and Barbados eight years ago.

Jacobs also spent six weeks in the Trinidad and Tobago semi–professional basketball League in 2006 with Maloney Pacers. The club had invited her to feature as a guess player for them that year.

Asked if she has received any corporate support since deciding to accept the scholarship, the Courts Pacesetters forward informed that apart from furniture giants Courts Guyana Incorporated, no other sponsor has come forward.

She said that Courts has agreed to purchase her airline ticket to Antigua while her club is scheduled to play a fundraising, Division One game this weekend at the Mackenzie Sports Club court against a team yet to be identified.

Asked if the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) was contacted outside the basic protocol, Jacobs, a resident of Wismar in Linden, said that she did not bother to contact the GABF on that front.

Maybe it’s a case of ‘ask and it shall be given unto you’ with the GABF since they are aware of the scholarship offer and the contents of the deal as the overseas players’ protocol would clearly necessitate.

Jacobs is one of the local stalwarts of female basketball. It is only fitting that she gets the right send–off after years of service to a dying version of the sport before the emergence of the women’s association last year.

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