By Neto Baptiste
Basketball players across Antigua will get their first taste of organised competition in almost two years when, on December 19, veteran national basketball player Bryan “Hollywood” Matthew and his group stage a three on three (3×3) tournament in All Saints village.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Matthew revealed that the tournament will feature 16 teams with each team comprising four players, one of whom could be female.
“That’s the good thing about it because I am also trying to include the females, and one other thing with taking it to All Saints as well is that we have been talking about getting basketball into the communities, so this is a kind of step forward. The All Saints community is good and Stan Roberts and his crew out there are big basketball enthusiasts so it’s a good thing, and I think that, definitely, including the females also, will bode well for the sport. The incentive for really having a female is that if a female is on your team you start [each match] with one point,” he said.
The Ovals Ojays player added that cash prizes will be up for grabs with other giveaways on offer to both players and spectators on the day.
“We will be paying the cash right there and we will be having some prizes as well for folks since it’s Christmas time, so definitely a family atmosphere along with basketball. It is the first type of competition that would see the guys getting to play after being away from the sport for about two years but that would surely get the sport going. It starts at 2 in the afternoon, games are 10 minutes or first to 21, so whosoever is leading after 10 minutes are the winners,” Matthew said.
The tournament will be held at the newly renovated basketball courts on Mack Pond, a venue Matthew said was chosen some time ago.
“I attended a function in All Saints and I saw the camaraderie and how the persons out there embraced sports on a whole and I promised them that once this gets kicked off I would have brought the tournament there, and so promise made promise kept type of situation. I had a meeting out there the other night with the folks and they were really enthused about it, so I am looking forward to it,” he said.
Interested teams can call 774-8573 for more information on how to register for the tournament.