Schools’ basketball lands strategic collaboration

Jun 05, 2009 Sports

– NSC, SS, NLE launches fourth NSBF

IN UNISON!! From left, NLE Director, Jamaal Douglas, Banks DIH Communications Manager, Troy Peters, Banks DIH Sales and Marketing Executive, Carlton Joao, Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, SS Director, Chris Bowman, NLE Director, Travis Shepherd and SS Director, Rayad Boyce at yesterday’s launch of the National Schools’ Basketball Festival.

By Edison Jefford
Schools’ basketball is expected to achieve new levels of success with the development that three major stakeholders will collaborate to host the fourth edition of the National Schools’ Basketball Festival (NSBF) that was launched yesterday at Thirst Park.
The National Sports Commission (NSC), Street Solutions (SS) and the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) group are working together on the schools’ basketball project for the first time in a move that could result in a magnanimous tournament.

“Next Level was planning a schools’ tournament when [Chris] Bowman approached us to do the tournament together. We jumped at it because we all want to ensure that this is a success,” NLE Director, Travis Shepherd told Kaieteur Sport.
The tournament includes 37 teams in the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 categories and among three regions: Georgetown, Linden and New Amsterdam. In his overview, SS Director, Bowman said that the tournament ought to be truly national.
The NSBF “is a very special event and continues to evolve as the major basketball championship on the national calendar. The NSBF give the best teams an opportunity to decide the best school basketball team in the country,” Bowman opined.
He indicated that the NSBF will feed off of the successes of the more confined NSC Mashramani schools’ tournament, the Victory Valley Royals’ competition and those invitational tournaments like the Queens and President’s College events.

“The only event that deliberately seeks to bring together the best school teams in the nation is the NSBF,” Bowman boasted, adding that the Championships would not have been possible without the involvement of Director of Sport, Neil Kumar.
“From the inception [Kumar] had decided to make this the NSC official programme and also part of the Ministry of Education’s agenda; we are happy to have the full support of Kumar and the hard working team of NLE and our sponsors,” he said.
Kumar expressed elation over this development when he said that he is “happy that basketball is improving”. The Director of Sport indicated that the sport is growing but more work needs to be done to maintain its recent and refreshing ascendancy.
Banks DIH Sales and Marketing Executive, Carlton Joao indicated that it is “good” when youths can have a professional outlook toward sport. He said that the company is happy to be associated with the schools’ programme under its Sprite brand.

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