“Future is bright in basketball”

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The ‘future is bright in basketball,’ were the words spoken by President of the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association Senator Darryl Matthew as he gave the feature address at the opening of the Inter-School Basketball league on Tuesday afternoon at the JSC Sports Complex. Matthew, after viewing the number of teams on display, commended the school basketball unit, the coaches and the coordinator, Carl “Bowlie” Knight, on their longstanding service to the sport, and he also highlighted the number of opportunities that playing basketball has given to the youth.
“When I see the number of teams here, especially in the mini-primary division, I have to commend the coaches and Mr. Knight on their hard work. These guys have been around basketball for a number of years as I remember watching them while I was a youngster. “I played in the school league some thirty-plus years, but I never represented Antigua; that doesn’t mean that there weren’t other opportunities for me. In fact, I am now the president and you too can be the president one day.
We will not all represent the country but you can receive an education, travel the world and even gain employment from playing basketball.” In his final words, the Senator recognised the first ever 3×3 Under-18 female team and encouraged them to be great ambassadors in their upcoming event. “I want to take this time out to recognise these young ladies who will be the firstever female team that will represent us in the regional event. Karel Knight, Kahtalia Valentine, Athalia Ralph and Laumeca Charles will forever be etched into the history books as being the first-ever female team.
“We want to encourage them to be great ambassadors for the country and just to put their best foot forward.” Those sentiments were shared by School Coordinator Carl Knight, who briefly thanked the coaches, schools and parents for their support and urged the players to exhibit proper sportsmanship. The former national player also thanked sponsors, Cool and Smooth, for their partnership with school basketball for over 10 years.
Games will continue today (Thursday) as Clare Hall Secondary will face St. Anthony’s Secondary at 2:45 p.m. in the Junior boy’s division, while in the Senior girl’s category, defending champions, Antigua Girls High will battle Princess Margaret at 3:30 p.m. All games will be played at the JSC Sports Complex.

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