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Afterschool B/ball Programme to bounce off
Robert Cadogan
– Activity to be launched this week
By Edison Jefford
The Afterschool Basketball Programme that will be specifically dealing with mentorship and the fundamental aspects of the game in an effort to provide a solid foundation for the sport will bounce off with sessions Monday following a launch later this week.
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport yesterday, Coordinator of the Programme, Robert Cadogan stated that he has tentatively set Friday as the date to launch the event, assuring that it will definitely be launched this week with sessions to begin at the National Gymnasium.
The Afterschool Basketball Programme is aimed at ensuring that the future of the sport is more secured following the rapid decline of basketball at the junior level over the last three years with Guyana failing to retain and reclaim the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) title.
While winning the overall IGG title always proved challenging, Guyana had owned the basketball championship for several years until the slide. It is against such background that Cadogan saw the need for the Afterschool Basketball Programme.
“We have to focus on the schools’ programme. The purpose of this Afterschool Programme is to really help basketball; it is to provide a sound future and provide a proper nursery for the sport,” Cadogan said, adding that the programme is long overdue.
The national senior basketball coach, who benefited from training in Hungary in 2001 then High Performance preparation in Mexico in 2009, both owed to Olympic Solidarity Scholarships, was of the view that there is a need for a structured schools’ programme.
Cadogan said that perhaps the time has not yet come for the sport to be accommodated within the schools’ curriculum, but that fact does not mean that basketball cannot be linked to the schools in a structured manner, which is what the Afterschool Programme is propagating.
The programme will be training players between the ages of 9-15 between 3:30pm and 5pm; former Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Technical Director, Cecil Chin, junior national coach, Mark Agard among others are on the training panel.
“I see this as the foundation basketball needs right now. Basketball needs a strong junior programme that is what I am trying to build.
We have good athletes, but some of them develop a lot of bad habits early, so we have to address those habits,” Cadogan indicated.
The coach informed this newspaper that he has had talks with the Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, who has offered his support for the programme.
Cadogan said that Kumar has made the National Gymnasium available to use as the home of the programme.
“Apart from afterschool lessons etcetera, there is no alternative for young people who are inclined to get involve in basketball. We want to provide that positive alternative since there are a lot of negative alternatives young people could turn to,” Cadogan concluded.
HJTV, WindJammer International Hotel, Regal Stationary and Supplies, Curtains and Draperies Designs, Haynes Foundation and Trendsetter Auto and Electrical Spares, Washington DC Jammers and Dr. Colin Watson are among the sponsors of the programme.
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