A new brand will bounce into the basketball fraternity this Wednesday when the National Community Basketball League (NCBL) holds its first official press conference.
The newly-formed league will be an upgraded version of the Inter-Ward Basketball Championships which was run by national coach Bobby Cadogan.
Cadogan, a former national player along with his new partner Kwame Mentor, has brought new innovations into the tournament as they are looking to televise at least one game per week while having special giveaway prizes at games in order to revive the sport.
“Well it’s not much of a difference from the Inter Ward, the Inter-Ward was basically Georgetown alone and now we have included out-of-town teams but it’s an upgraded version because we have added some other stuff as well,” Cadogan told Stabroek Sport.
Talking about his expectation of the league, Cadogan stated:“One of the expectations is that we bring back basketball and the fans to the sport while looking for emerging talent.
“The tournament will help us to see skills you don’t see regularly, Kwakwani is in the competition and Georgetown haven’t had a good look at Kwakwani… we might have seen their junior teams but not any senior teams and then you have the prospect of selection to national teams as we see the hidden and raw talent especially since the CBC (Caribbean Basketball Championships) is next year,” Codagon said.
However, the main side attraction of the tournament will see fans having the opportunity to shoot from half court with a chance to win a motor vehicle which will be drawn at the end of the league
The league, which will consist of 16 male teams along with four female teams, will see games being played at four different venues: the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the Mackenzie Sports Club Hardcourt in Linden, New Amsterdam and Burnham Court.
According to Mentor, sponsorship for half of the teams in the competition is already secured while proceeds from the tournament will be going to the building of a basketball court in Albouystown.
The tournament is set to attract the best players from different communities and Mentor expects it will also bring about community cohesion through support of their respective teams.
Further, the players will also be rewarded as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) will receive a motor cycle at the end of the league while the player of the night/game will also win prizes. The community/team with the best support will also be in with a chance of winning prizes as well.
The first two games are expected to bounce off on May 19 on the Burnham Court from 18:00hrs with Wismar battling New Amsterdam while Central Mackenzie will take on Alfa Bourda in the second game of the night.
