Pepsi Street Series is a positive step forward

Oct 15, 2010 Sports

By Edison Jefford
It was Bill Cosby who said that he does not know the road to success, but he knows the road to failure is trying to please everybody. It does not matter how good an administrator you are-you simply cannot please everyone in the export of your office.
I was privy to lots of the sentiments that were expressed during the Pepsi-sponsored basketball Street Series Championships, which places me in an informed position. Most of those opinions came at a time when the sport in Georgetown is in transition.
Some felt that the six flood lamps erected around the court are insufficient and perhaps should be more illuminating; point taken! But it was repeatedly highlighted in the media that the Burnham Basketball Court will benefit from more lights in the future.
Responsible journalism will ensure that those promises are kept in the timeframe allotted. It will be a disappointment to if those responsible are not held accountable. The media will ensure that it upkeeps its public responsibility on the Burnham court subject.
Development must begin somewhere and with no major funding from the corporate community, the Burnham Basketball Court Development Project has taken a few steps forward. This should have been applauded rather than criticised I must admit.
Secondly, there were numerous complaints about the surface of the court and safety of players at the outdoor venue. These are concerns that the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association will have to take seriously as it continues to develop the facility.
Concrete surfaces will always be more challenging than the wood surface, but there are types of concrete surfaces that are less risky than the rougher surface. Burnham court, sooner rather than later, will have to factor into its impressive plan the smoother surface.
The Georgetown sub-association has released an impressive infrastructural plan for the Burnham Basketball Court but the specifications of the plan, materials and otherwise, is not known. It will not be too far fetched to imagine that the court has to be redone.
Thirdly, too many games were brought into disrepute with controversial referring, which brings into question the formal formation of a basketball referees council. I said ‘formal’ because I have heard of the existence of such a body but I am not sure it is constituted.
The formation of the referees’ council will take into account all technical training for officials and will exonerate the sub-associations and national federations from directly getting involved in the selection and appointment of officials for basketball games.
That will certainly raise the standard of the game and ease scepticism. Fourthly, there is the growing issue with vagrants occupying the only stand spectators have to be comfortable when it is game time. That cannot continue to persist at the venue.The Georgetown association must find a way to deal with that issue even if it means hiring fulltime security to guard the court. Securing the venue should be a priority even as there are the lights and other costly equipment and infrastructure to protect.
But generally, the Pepsi Street Series was a positive step forward, creating the right atmosphere and sending the right message for basketball in Georgetown. It proved that community basketball can succeed but it will not without the necessary corporate support.
The Georgetown sub-association must persist with the development of the court since the sport is not going to develop in a vacuum. Basketball cannot develop without facilities, hence starting the development plan for the sport with developing a facility must be applauded.
The criticisms that came out of the Pepsi Street Series must be acknowledged, but the association must not run the risk of failure by trying to please everyone. The basketball development agenda in Georgetown must continue to show positive results.

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Pepsi Street Series is a positive step forward

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