During the week of August 10th, the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association (ABBA) will participate in the FIBA U-17 Skills Challenge Regional Qualifiers 2020 and the FIBA U-17 Women’s Skills Challenge 2020 Regional Qualifiers.
As such, the Association will be hosting National try-outs on Thursday 30th July 2020, at the JSC Sports Complex. The Female try-out is slated to take place from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm; and the male try-out is scheduled from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Participation in the Skills Challenge Qualifiers is open to male and female under-17 athletes, born on 1 January 2003 or later, who are citizens of Antigua and Barbuda by birth, or naturalisation before age 16.
As per FIBA’s rule of eligibility, “Foreign-born players with bloodline connection with the country they want to represent must prove their legal nationality through a passport obtained before turning age 16.” Therefore, official documentation, including original passport and birth certificate, will be required once selected.
Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, all health and safety protocols will be strictly enforced. This includes social distancing measures, handwashing, temperature checks, and sanitising the venue.
After the try-outs, a maximum of twenty-four athletes, in each category, male and female, will be selected to represent Antigua and Barbuda in the Skills Challenge. For each challenge, the National Federations shall select five (5) players from the twenty-four (24) to participate in the various challenges, organised by FIBA.
From the Caribbean and Central America (CONCENCABA) region, the participating countries in the male division include Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Bahamas; Cuba; Guatemala; Panama; Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. While in the female category, the participating countries include Argentina; Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Cuba; Dominica; Guatemala; Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.
The U-17 Skills Challenge is entirely virtual and is styled as a round-robin. After each challenge, federations/associations will send the video footage to FIBA for judging.
Interested athletes are invited to register for the tryouts by downloading the registration form: https://antiguabasketball.com/national-tryouts-registration-from-2020/.