All systems are in place for the hosting of the South Carolina Lady All-Star semi-pro basketball club who are set to be in Guyana from September 18-22.

Neil Kumar

Under coach Larry Davis, the team from the south eastern  United States  will conduct several clinics, primarily with females who, according to secretary of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) Eon Andrews, are in dire need of the development opportunity.

Andrews said that Guyana has only won the CARICOM basketball tournament once which was in 1996 when the females took the crown.

Since then, he declared,  their involvement in the sport has taken a dive.
The team will begin their stint in Guyana on September 18 when they are down to pay a courtesy call on Director of Sports Neil Kumar and then hold a clinic with the junior national females. Later that same day Guyana’s senior ladies will match skills with the visitors at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Coach Davis via an e-mail to Stabroek Sport stated that his goal was to teach players the correct fundamentals of the game while also promoting Christian behaviour on and off the court as well as AIDS awareness and the importance of education.

Their stay will not be limited to Georgetown as Andrews explained that players in Linden will also benefit.

However, he could not confirm if the visitors will be  making a trip to Berbice, saying that some logistics were still to be worked out as it relates to the Ancient County’s participation. “We think that our males are in good hands but the females right now need plenty of work. That’s why we are grateful for the visit by the South Carolina Ladies because they will impart to the females that much-needed help and also having them play against some of our best females is good, so we can see where we stand right now,” said Andrews.

The visiting ladies will play three exhibition games here and, apart from the seniors, Guyana’s females preparing for next month’s Inter-Guiana Games in Suriname will also be in the mix.

Davis, though, explained in the e-mail to Stabroek Sport that the entire team would not be coming so they have some other players joining them.

“All of the ladies are college graduates and have played semi-professional basketball with either the South Carolina Lady All-Star or some other team. Most of them have played professional basketball overseas with at least one being selected in the WNAB draft a few years back,” Davis explained.

Some of the local ladies who are in preparation under coaches Mark Agard and Abdullah Hamid are Natasha Alder, Nicola Jacobs, Sonia Rodney and Kean Andrews.