Super successful, but controversial year for basketball

Jan 13, 2017 Sports

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 By Edison Jefford
Basketball had a super successful programme in 2016 where unnecessary controversy threatened to undermine what has been solid development work. However, The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) was one of sport’s top performers last year.

The calendar bounced off with the Road to Mecca III –the association’s third National Basketball Championship, which had a customary sluggish start in February, but intensified when it reached the Final Eight in March.
Eventually Georgetown’s Colts and Linden’s Retrieve Raiders qualified for the Finals that ended in a stalemate at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall when Raiders abandoned the game with 9:18 left on the game clock to protest what they believe was biased officiating.
Down 51-54 in the National Championship Game, the Linden-based team left the court after one of its players received double technical fouls for his aggression; following the calls, other players from Raiders were incensed with the referees and the team left the court, abandoning the game as a result.
Raiders’ supporters then started to throw chairs, bottles and other items on the court, bringing the game into disrepute. President of the GABF, Nigel Hinds, managed to convince Raiders to return to the Court.
After reviewing the video, Hinds felt that the referees’ calls against Raiders were unwarranted. It vindicated Raiders, but sparked another protest from the opposing Colts, which followed Raiders earlier action and left the court. This ended the game with no result.
This drama unfolded as the three-quarter packed Sports Hall waited for a little under one hour for the game to resume. Unfortunately, it never did. An otherwise keen contest became a damp squib after great administrative work had preceded an otherwise successful event.
It took the distinguished academic and former FIBA internationally licensed referee, Jay Mandle a meeting with relevant stakeholders to resolve the issues. Mandle issued a letter, stating that the only way to determine the authentic champion was to replay the game.
The W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics at Colgate University, who along with his wife, Joan Mandle, also a University Professor, co-authored ‘Caribbean Hoops: The Development of West Indian Basketball’, which has an entire chapter on Refereeing.

Mandle and his wife visited Guyana at the request of the University of Guyana and met with the GABF President, Hinds and reps from the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) and Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) at the Marriot Hotel.
Following the meeting, stakeholders agreed to replay the final in April, which had crowned Colts first time National Champions since Mecca began. The maxim, which suggests that: ‘controversy sells’, became true when, surprisingly, a bigger crowd came out to witness the Final for a second time.
The senior players were met with more basketball when the Washington DC Jammers visited for their customary tour in May. D.C Jammers completed a sweep of Guyana’s top three clubs in the three-game series at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Again there was some amount of controversy when Raiders chose to not play in the tournament, leaving organisers with a scramble to find a replacement. But with Guyana winning a bid to host the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) U-16 Championships, the obvious angst at senior levels quickly dissipated with all the focus on youth basketball.
Excellent partnership between the GABF, and Government of Guyana, followed a pact from the latter to ensure that every system necessary was in place to host the event. This commitment was given to the CBC Officials, including its President, Glyne Clarke.
Clarke had visited Guyana where he met at the Ministry of Education with Ministers, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Dr. Nicolette Henry, Director of Sports, Christopher Jones, Hinds, and other major stakeholders from the basketball community.
The stage was set for a pulsating Caribbean Championships; the Sports Hall was transformed to an international facility with aesthetic beauty that forced the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to issue a letter of commendation to Guyana.

The leadership from Government and the astute administration of the GABF combined to assist the young Guyanese male team in a Cinderella run to the final against top-ranked Bahamas with Minister Henry surprising the Guyanese with a locker room visit.
Guyana lost in the final against a clearly superior Bahamian team, but qualified for CentroBasket – the Central American Championships for the first time at any level. The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall was filled to capacity to bring the curtains down on the male competition. The local girls did not do as well.
However, following the immense success that several individuals and organisations worked hard to achieve, another controversy publicly erupted with Hinds stating that he and the GABF are yet to be repaid for works undertaken at the Sports Hall to host the event.
Hinds indicated in the media that the GABF is owed for works it undertook and equipment it had procured to host the Caribbean Championships. He said The National Sports Commission (NSC) owes the GABF in excess of $7 million for the work done.
The issue was a primary factor that forced the resignation of Hinds from the NSC where he was a Commissioner and Vice-Chairman. In the final analysis of the performance of basketball in 2016 it is safe to say that controversy stalked every major success in the sport and there have been the successes at the both domestic and international levels.

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