With Guyana billed to stage the opening leg of the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG), the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) yesterday officially short-listed their boys and girls’ U19 squads yesterday for the event billed for August 6th-10th at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Following the conclusion of the recent Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) National Schools Basketball Festival, a 22-member male side and 17-member female side were short-listed.
Previously the YBG was in charge of the running of the IGG Basketball programme. However, following a regularization process, the YBG now falls under the GABF and as such, the two entities worked together to develop the aforesaid programme.
Speaking at a press briefing held at Duke Lodge, manager of the IGG basketball team Cecil Chin said that the selected roster represents the best available local talents and most of the names were submitted via documentation by the YBG Organization following the conclusion of their tourney.
Chin added that all the necessary information was submitted to the relevant authorities inclusive of the Ministry of Education, declaring that his mandate is to ensure that the best teams takes the court to represent the country.
GABF Vice-President Michael Singh during an invited comment said that following the country’s poor senior showing at the CBC tournament, the focus of the federation has been shifted to the junior programme for the upcoming event.
He thanked the YBG organization for assisting in assembling the provisional squad and for contributing to the sport for 10 years, stating that the aim of the federation is to build a team that the entire country can be proud of. He also urged the schools and respective parents to support the teams during the event.
Singh said that the federation will continue to invest in sport on a yearly basis to ensure that the best local talents are unearthed and fostered so that they can build for the future.
With regards to the squad, the men’s side which will be under the tutelage of head-coach Willan Cameron and his assistant Courtney Taylor, will consist of Daniel Haynes, Terron Welch, Dennis Niles, Timothy Thompson, Stanton Rose, Dawair Gladstone, Nathan Saul, Troy David, Dellon Wallace, Patrice Agrippa, Sherland Gillis, Neil Wills, Tafawa Daly, Ramone Fogenay, Sebastian Luke, Jaleel Duke, Kerrol Phillips, Osafa Profitt, Kevon Wiggins, Marvin Durant, Daniel Ramlagan and Jonathan Mangra.
On the female side, the member provisional squad which will be under head-coach Ann Gordon and assistant Deborah Solomon comprise of Jenelle Belle, Makeda Rogers, Kenesha Leacock, Anasha Gladstone, Jenna DaSilva, Nelosia Mitchell, Makeba Hill, Jada Amerally, Georgiana Vyphius, Jada Mohan, Kayla Brush, Sileena Arjune, Tandika Bowyer, Andrea Spencer, Asanti Conway, Keisha Sampson and Ronella Lyken.
