The eagerly anticipated Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA)/Yolo Entertainment Super Sevens tourney recently acquired major support from the Guyana Basketball Officials Council (GBOC) and Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) organizations.
The tournament, which is the brainchild of Yolo Entertainment director Kirk ‘Chow Pow’ Jardine, will officially commence on October 27 at the Burnham Court on Parade Ground.
Matches, which will begin at 14:00hrs, will also be contested on November 3 while the event’s finale is set for November 4.
YBG Co-Director Christopher Bowman said that he believes the novelty tournament will be of great benefit to the basketball fraternity as the format allows for all persons who play basketball to enter and have a chance to experience real basketball situations, while having fun at the same time.
He added that coaches of the established clubs will use the tournament to “spot” new players and invite them to join teams. GBOC President Cecil Chin praised the concept of the tournament while stating that the special rules will certainly provide a challenge for the referees and great entertainment for the fans.
Teams competing in the tournament will be allowed seven players with a maximum of three first-division players per side. The duration of each game will be 16 minutes.
The special rules include shot penalties when the ball goes out of touch, a bonus ball that will double points when scored as well as special personal foul penalties.
Should a game be tied after regulation time, a free throw shootout will be utilized to determine the winner wherein the captain of the respective teams will chose the shooters from the opposing team.
The victorious side will receive $100,000, a trophy and team replicas while the runners-up will collect $75,000, a trophy and team replicas. The third place finishers will receive $50,000, a trophy and team medals while the fourth placed side will collect a trophy and team participation certificates.
A special award will also be presented to Basketball stalwarts Eon “Watusi” Andrews and Mark Agard. There will also be daily novelty prizes for fans and players alike.
Current sponsors of the event include Hinds & Statia Financial Services, HJTV & 94.1 Boom FM, Star Party Rentals, Precise Printing and Organic Natural Resource Management.
