Basketball And National Youth Development
For several years it has been Basketball was one of this country’s popular sports and that it has the potential to do much by way of the development of our country through the engagement of the nation’s youth. That is still very much the case.
Admittedly, the sport has had its fair share of highs and lows. There were times when the sport was so popular that SID’s PUB, at the time, was literally filled for every major basketball game in the NBA, shown on the institution’s big screen in real time. The venue became the home for major arguments on the development of the game as well as the proficiency levels of the different players, all of whom were very well known to the Vincentian basketball fraternity in attendance at the Pub.
All around St Vincent and the Grenadines, there were basketball hoops on the electrical poles on the roadside and on makeshift backboards as well as appropriate ones, on hard courts. It did not matter that the hard courts were not always well maintained. What mattered was that the youths were so eager to be part of a broader global growth of the game of basketball that they were willing to play, everywhere, even if it led to unwanted injuries.
Followers of the sport of basketball in St Vincent and the Grenadines well remember the days North Leeward ruled the court, with Patel as the prime mover in getting the team in shape for the annual championship. Perhaps most importantly, were the days when ‘Bomba’ Charles made Union Island the ‘champions’ of Vincentian basketball, bringing two teams to the annual competition and playing all of their matches in a one or two week window, leaving teams from St Vincent pondering how were they so readily humiliated by their counterparts of the Southern Grenadines.
Then, Calliaqua became a veritable home of basketball for several years, playing under lights and with patrons anxious to get into the arena and scores on the outside looking in. For some time they kept the fires burning in the hearts of those young people who loved the sport.
Bequia, with the leadership of Sabrina Mitchell, literally kept the sport alive with an annual tournament that proved both attractive and successful. The achievements of basketball in Bequia catapulted Sabrina onto the executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Basketball Federation. She was elected to the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) in 2015 and again in 2019. She was the first woman to be elected as secretary of the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA).
At a time when basketball enthusiasm and participation in national basketball competitions waned, Bequia always held fast, a beacon flickering but still shedding light for the sport.
Looking back, many now say with much chagrin, ‘those were the good old days’.
The Rebound?
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Basketball Federation (SVGBF) held its annual summer camp from 21 July to 8 August. Not surprisingly, the theme of the camp was, #REBOUND – Shoot for the Stars. The theme was deliberately chosen to facilitate a regeneration exercise for the sport, starting with the children.
The period 21 – 25 July camps were held concurrently in the central and windward zones, at Langley Park and New Montrose respectively. Petit Bodel benefitted from the camp during the period, 5 – 8 August. In each case, the camps followed the same programme.
For the second consecutive year, the Grenadines did not share in the spoils by way of camps. In the case of Bequia there were problems with the uprights while in Union Island the required infrastructure was lacking.
According to the leadership of the SVGBF, more than half of the attendees at the camps were boys but there was a 31% increase in the overall number of participants, a boost for the sport and an endorsement of the appeal for the sport that seems to be returning.
The little ones, the future of the sport, turned up in their numbers
Importantly, and for the future of the sport, children of a relatively young age were among the participants. The leadership of the SVGBF emphasised the attention being paid to the grassroot development of the sport.
Coaches Wayne Williams, Conrad Simon, Karol Bramble and Randolph Williams all immersed themselves in the programme of the camps. Ensuring that children, at a very young age, are taught the fundamentals of the sport was an area that received much attention. According to reports, the children were taught basketball skills in a fun-filled atmosphere that they all enjoyed.
The SVGBF also paid attention to the development of the participating athletes in terms of their own personalities. Values and good behaviour on and off the field of play were emphasised by personnel who were invited to conduct these specialised sessions.
A report produced by the SVGBF stated, “Another successful summer camp completed; thanks to the ongoing support and contribution from the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee (SVGOC) and the members of the coaching team of the SVGBF. This year’s camp has not only demonstrated an ongoing interest in the game of basketball among the youths in this country, but it has provided motivation to the SVGBF to continue working towards the revival of the game of basketball.
“Participants were provided with the knowledge to make more informed decisions not only on the court but during their everyday life, be it with the peers, teammates, coaches, parents or strangers. They were encouraged to be persistent and to set goals and work hard to achieve their goals. They were reminded of the importance of balancing academics and sports; as sports and physical activity aids in stimulating
various aspects of ones’ well-being, including physical, mental, and social health”.
More eager participants at the SVGBF Camps 2025
Challenges continue
The SVGBF continues to face numerous challenges.
In the lead up to this country’s hosting of the recently concluded Windward Islands Schools Games (WISG), the Basketball Federation’s representative, Wayne Williams, insisted that the only court that met the international standard for the competition’s games to be held was the one at New Montrose. While many heard this repeatedly, the response was always that it was not possible to have the referenced court receive the attention required for the Games. Nothing was done.
Interestingly, this country had to contend with the gross embarrassment of having the Calliaqua court hastily upgraded, so late that the intended players were in a pickle having tar under and around their shoes when attempting to prepare for the first set of basketball games. The result was that the games had to be moved the same day to the New Montrose court where the teams had to await the cleaning of the facility and attempts at making it ‘fit for purpose’.
The aforementioned embarrassment need not have occurred if there was a genuine attempt at sport development in St Vincent and the Grenadines. One wonders whether the fact that the New Montrose court is not in a constituency that the ruling party has won in the past several elections, has anything to do with what appears to be a refusal to pay attention to the facility which is woefully in ned of upgrading.
That 3 x 3 Basketball is extremely popular should cause government officials to see it as a means of getting the nation’s youths off the street, off drugs and violence.
The time has come for an end to the political patronage system that is so perverse and injurious to the nation’s future.
There is no valid and viable sport against crime initiative in St Vincent and the Grenadines. There has never been. Too much attention is being paid to repeating the political verbiage that is aimed at providing our youths and children with palliatives, not real solutions to the problems that plague them.
There are numerous hard courts around the country which, if appropriately upgraded, will do much to assist our nation’s children and youth from the wastage we see parading our streets, daily, in tattered rags.
Basketball can offer a way out. It can bring meaning lives to our children and youths.
