COVID-19 stymies National Basketball team’s preparation

Mar 15, 2020 Sports

Jamaica likely to host men’s CBC Championship

By Calvin Chapman

Travis Belgrave, who will be outfitting for Eagles Basketball Club in the Andrew Ifill Knockout tournament that was scheduled to bounce off today with round one action at the Burnham hard court on Middle & Carmichael Streets, during an interview with Kaieteur Sport, has noted that now would’ve been a good time for competition to return to the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA).

Head Coach Junior Hercules (left) and President of the GABF, Mike Singh.

Travis Belgrave.

However, the tournament has been suspended since the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic has reached Guyana with one reported case thus far.
Belgrave, who was part of the historic Guyana team that won their first Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championship men’s title in 2018 in Suriname, highlighted that there hasn’t been any competition for many months in Georgetown and this tournament would’ve been important since Guyana is scheduled to defend their title this year and it will help keep the skills of the local players in check.
The 22-year-old explained that while it is important for a player to stay fit, and although Guyana whitewashed a visiting Grenada team last December, following another long hiatus of competitive basketball,

GABF Secretary Patrick Haynes (right) bestowing the CBC MVP award last June to Guyana’s captain Stanton Rose.

tournaments are especially important.
Head Coach of the team, Junior Hercules, also had noted the significance of the tournament as “very important” while noting that the 2020 CBC Championships, like other global sporting events, may face the threat of being postponed by the eminent coronavirus threat.
Kaieteur Sport made contact with the General Secretary of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), Patrick Haynes, who revealed that, “As per direction of FIBA, all basketball related activities has been suspended for 30 days. Upon 30 days and based on evaluations on different medical committees, we will either reevaluate and lift the suspension or we will extend the suspension.”
Haynes further shared that Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been nominated to host the men’s and women’s championship respectively. However, neither of the two hosts have been confirmed since they need confirmation in writing from their Government and Olympic Associations before any dates can be released to the various participating nations.
Up to press time, a total of 15 men’s team and eight women’s teams have signaled their interest in participating in this year’s tournament, according to Haynes.

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