2016 Bequia Basketball Tournament up and running

The 18th Annual Vitamalt Bequia Basketball Tournament opened last Saturday night at the Clive Tannis hard court in Bequia, with the Opening Ceremony and the March Past of teams.

The opening ceremony was addressed by president of the Bequia Basketball Association Sabrina Mitchell; vice–president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Basketball Federation Karel Bramble; as well as Parlia-mentary Representative of the Northern Grenadines Godwin Friday and Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Cecil Mc Kie.{{more}}

Following the march past of the teams, president of the Bequia Basketball Association Sabrina Mitchell, who is also on the executive body of FIBA and Caribbean Basketball, and a sports ambassador, appealed to the players and the community to take care of the facility and refrain from vandalizing it, as it is there for the benefit of all of Bequia.

Mitchell made a special appeal to the Minister of Sports and Culture for the Government to secure funding for new gates for the playing field, as the current ones are rusted, broken, falling off and no longer functional.

She also thanked the VINLEC personnel on Bequia for their stellar efforts to address some safety issues, which were well resolved.

Meanwhile, parliamentary representative for the Northern Grenadines Dr Godwin Friday urged the older players to be more serious about the game and to set an example for the many young children playing to ensure the sustainability of basketball in Bequia for many years to come.

And, Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Cecil Mc Kie encouraged the Bequia Association, as well as the National Federation, to develop a five-year plan for development of the game to submit to him, so that the Government can properly address the needs of the community in terms of sports development.

This year’s tournament features 15 teams in three divisions, including the Under-16 Division, Second Division and First Division.

The listed teams in the First Division are East Blazers, Raptors, Generalz and Wizards.

Second Division outfits are Southern Stars, Rising Stars, Wizards 2, Young Duke and Blazing Heat and in the Under 16 Division, come Titans, Hawks, Young Wizards, Hornets, Dragons and Rockets.

Titans won the 2015 Under-16 Division; Rising Stars – the Second Division and Duke – the First Division.