Basketball leaders' discussion falls short on resolutions

Basketball leaders’ discussion falls short on resolutions

Jan 15, 2009 Sports

Plan supplemental forum next week

Trevor Rose

Uborn Smith

By Edison Jefford
The meeting among the administrative leaders of local basketball fell short of resolutions yesterday but succeeded in arriving at a consensus for a collaborative effort toward the development of the sport this year.
The top official from Linden, Uborn Smith said that many issues were inconclusive while the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) plan was unclear, which required another meeting of minds on January 23. “We were not conclusive on many things. The federation has to clarify its plans for the rest the year but everything seems to be tight lipped right now,” the head of the Linden subassociation, Smith indicated.
Among the topics discussed at the lengthy session were competitions, the GABF Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was tentatively set for the first quarter and improving the relationship of the major stakeholders.
Surprisingly, none of the officials that Kaieteur Sport spoke to yesterday had information on the Caribbean Basketball Championships. It is not clear whether the matter, which is an immediate one, was raised at the meeting.
The registration fee of the Caribbean’s biggest basketball event is due at the end of next month and one would have assumed that the approach to the occasion would have taken precedence at such a decisive forum.
In addition, this newspaper did not ascertain whether the Haynes Basketball Foundation (HBF) budget that was presented to the GABF for CBC came up for discussion following an intention to raise it at the meeting.
GABF President, Godwin McPherson had informed that he would have been taking the document to the event for “discussion”. McPherson had, however, expressed reservation over HBF production of the budget. Smith described the gathering as “a comfortable discussion and optimism toward the future” but the Linden basketball leader has uncertainties about discussing the future of the sport when an AGM and elections are due.
“There is often a problem with the incumbent continuing the plans of the outgoing; many of the plans for 2009 could fall through if the administration changes at the AGM,” Smith told this newspaper last evening.
Asked if he was able to adequately tackle the concerns of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), Smith said that most of the items, including the AGM, the central federation dealt with independently.
Similarly, the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) had its reservations preempted at the meeting; President, Trevor Rose said that he was “satisfied to an extent with the manner of the discussion”.
Rose is of the view that the collaborative effort of the federation with the association will take some time since both associations are relatively new. Additionally, Rose believes that the associations must gather consistency.
“Both associations are in transition. McPherson stressed the need for the collaboration of all the bodies but that will take time since both associations are in transition,” the firstterm President, Rose reiterated.
It is hoped that a definite proposal for the development of the sport, commencing in 2009, will be disclosed when the leaders meet again next week. From all indications, the forum yesterday was merely the icing on the cake.

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