International basketball official concludes historic assessment in Guyana

Apr 02, 2017 Sports

International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Assistant Executive Director (for the Americas), Victor Mansure concluded his historic three-day visit to Guyana on Friday after meetings with key stakeholders to compose a

International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Assistant Executive Director (for the Americas), Victor Mansure (fourth, left) takes a photo opportunity with Director of Sport, Christopher Jones (left) and NSC Commissioners.

development programme.
Mansure met with several officials from the basketball community that included every aspect of the sport: sub-associations of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), Coaches and Officials to further FIBA’s global ‘One FIBA Initiative’.
In addition, Mansure, who worked for three years in the Toronto Raptors organisation in the National Basketball Association (NBA), also met with the National Sports Commission (NSC) as an organ of the Government of Guyana.
One of the biggest hallmarks of FIBA’s new initiative, the home and away international games structure, was especially relevant to the Government since modern facilities are essential to the success of the implementation of the programme.
However, because of the absence of facilities to accommodate FIBA’s plan that include rights to international televised games etc., FIBA has assented to proposal from the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) to defer the home and away game structure until such time that appropriate facilities are constructed.
The home and away structure meant that each national team would have been allowed to play in specified windows against international opposition on a home and away basis with all games on international television and attracting international branding.
According to Mansure, the move is to ensure major support is given to national teams during the six windows of qualification, which will take place over a 15-month period. Mansure informed that this year marks the beginning of a new global era for basketball.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will now be held in 2019 in China, with the International Federation shifting away from hosting their major event in the same calendar year as FIFA and other major international sports events.
The Sports Commission committed to working with FIBA to ensure that Guyana benefit from the new initiatives of international basketball as this will be beneficial to the country in terms of putting Guyana on the map.
The increased interest in Guyana’s basketball product is as a direct relation to its runner-up finish at the CBC Under-16 Championships in July last year. In addition, Guyana again played in an U-18 FIBA 3×3 Final in St. Lucia recently, losing in the final seconds.
In 2014, a strategic FIBA development programme was established at the Congress in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the strategic plans was ‘The National Federation Development and Support’. It is a document that purports the belief that FIBA is as strong as its National Federations.
Following the Congress this year, FIBA will send its development plan to the GABF based on the assessment of Mansure. The GABF will be responsible for the implementation of that plan with the aim of taking Guyana’s basketball to the next level.