‘Shugy’ to host youth basketball tournament in St Mary’s South

0
264
2 shugy
Grassroots Cricket Academy in Bermuda.
- Advertisement -

By Neto Baptiste

Budding basketball players in and around the St Mary’s South Constituency will have the opportunity to compete against their peers during the inaugural South Side Set the Trend 15 & Under 3X3 Basketball Tournament set to hoop-off on September 30.

Organiser of the tournament and UPP candidate for the pending by-election in that constituency, Kelvin “Shugy” Simon, explained that the initiative is an evolution of the ongoing grassroots basketball camp he has been hosting in the constituency for some time now.

“Any country that’s serious about sports and developing sports must have strong grassroots, and this programme I am going to do on the 30th of this month is coming directly out of the camp I started with Mitch League in March. Since I started in March, I didn’t stop, and in fact, I increased the days because I started on just Saturdays and now we are doing at least three and sometimes four days per week, so this tournament now is coming right out of that camp,” he said.

Simon, an avid lover of sports and himself a basketball player, said that apart from giving the young players an opportunity to showcase their talent, the tournament is also geared towards uniting the community.

“This tournament now is geared towards bringing the entire community to watch these youngsters on display, so their parents, their siblings, family, friends and everybody should be coming out to watch these youngsters play because they have been practicing since March to now, and I want them to be able to show it off to everybody, as to what they have been learning. We know in the world of spots that you can practice, practice, practice but the excitement comes at game time,” he said.

The aspiring MP believes this tournament could be the start of something bigger for the sport within the community as he seeks to push for a return to the basketball association league.

“It is a step towards that indeed, and with planning because we have short-term and long-term planning and this is just a part of the short-term planning going into the long-term planning I have for St Mary’s South when it comes to basketball, because we haven’t had a basketball team in the competition for some time. Next year actually, I am planning to take a team in with some of these same youngsters and maybe myself to just play and offer some guidance,” Simon said.

In addition to the basketball competition, there will also be a three-point shootout contest and other entertainment for spectators. There will also be food and drinks on sale, with all proceeds going back into the grassroots initiative.

The winning team will walk away with a $500 cash prize with the MVP of the tournament getting dinner and a day pass at the Hodges Bay Resort & Spa.

Interested persons can call 781-3369 or 785-7669 for more information. 

- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

sixteen + nineteen =