Interoffice basketball has gone around in full circle since its inception in the late eighties. It has evolved from basically a non-elitist league in the mid-eighties to an elitist league in the early nineties. In 1995, it returned back to its non-elitist roots and stood that way for approximately 10 years. Today, it is once again viewed by most basketball pundits as an elitist league.
Over the history of the league, there have been four distinct groups that have chartered the course of Interoffice basketball. They are the Santiago Castillo Group; Santiago Castillo, Jr. (Santi); yours truly, Hoops News; and, lastly, the Gilbert Gordon led group.
The league, which was founded, I believe, by the Santiago Castillo Group, started with six teams in the mid eighties. My team back then was Atlantic Bank Ltd. I was an employee of that firm, and therefore was eligible to play. That was the sacred rule: You must work at the firm to be able to play with the firm. Interoffice basketball was “the event” for many of the companies who participated. While for the organizer, Santiago Castillo Ltd., it was an event I believe in which they saw an opportunity to engage other business houses on weekends for a friendly basketball exchange. If I am right, the Group also took the opportunity to showcase some of its core business products. I can recall that after games the players would be treated to a cold cup of Milo or Ovaltine. The event, in my mind, was great. The games were pure non-elitist. After games, various groups would congregate on the bleachers and discuss the outcome of the games over a “cold one”. No senior players were allowed to participate (at that time, senior ball was the highest level).
I am not certain of the year, but somewhere in the late eighties or early nineties, Santiago Castillo, Jr. (Santino’s) took over the organizing of the event. Mind you now, Santi was the then Owner/Sponsor of the then famed Santino’s Jah Jam, and he, being the strong competitor he is, wanted to ensure that at the end of the day Santino’s Jah Jam would prevail. This move signaled the first transition of the league from non-elitist to elitist. The rules were circumvented by the new organizers, and teams were allowed, I believe, up to three senior players on their rosters. There was an influx of talent into the league, the likes of Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn at the peak of his career, blended in with the young and overly gifted Darren Bovell, just out of high school. The list goes on – Errol “Gadoose” Gentle, Leroy “Tambran” Young – while main contender Santiago Castillo Ltd. countered with Kirk “Shabba” Smith. You could imagine how disappointed yours truly was at the change of events. Here was a non-elitist player, with very limited talent, playing just for fun, and now being saddled to go up against the daunting likes of the legendary Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn and his peers. This was the scenario faced by many other players in the league in the early 1990’s.
In 1995, an opportunity was presented to me to take over the leadership of the league. I accepted; however, I came in with a chip on the shoulder – I wanted the league to return back to its roots. I immediately started putting in place the necessary guidelines which, I believe, would foster the true spirit of the league, that being “keeping friendly competition alive between organizations”. And so it was, a league, which at that time was out of control, was down-sized to six teams – Santiago Castillo Ltd., Central Bank, Atlantic Bank Ltd., Belize Mills Ltd., DFC, and Belize Bank Ltd. While the down-sizing was necessary, the key feature was the return of the “no senior or semipro players” participation and the “players must work at the firm” rules. Our management was clearly committed to keeping the higher level talent from participating in the league. This brought back much enthusiasm to the league, and as a result the league grew from six teams in 1995 to twenty-four teams in 2005. During that period, the games were extremely competitive, and we saw more success from the teams that were built from one firm. Winners such as Income Tax & Immigration Dept. (I&I) in 1996, DFC in 1997, Customs in 1998 and 2001, the Police Dept. in 1999, and BTB in 2002 and 2003 are living testimony to the rule – all players must work at the firm.
This period, 1995-2004, was truly a non-elitist period. However, in 2005, to appease the small-firm teams who were unable to find enough players to fill a roster, a new phenomenon was introduced to the league, where two small firms were allowed to join to form one team. While this was done in the best interest of the small teams, the stronger firms took this as an opportunity to get even stronger; and since then, five of the six champions were teams that had joined with another firm.
Today, the league is once again an elitist league. As a matter of fact, the new organizers have put in considerable efforts to encourage elitist players to play in the interoffice league and forego the senior men’s tournament currently being organized by the BDBA. They have gone overboard in their marketing efforts to sell interoffice basketball as the only option to the starved-play semipro and senior players, who, having not played ball for over two years, naturally just want an opportunity to play ball; and who, as we speak, are unwilling to forego their long awaited IBL eligibility status for a perceived one-off type senior men season. The organizers of interoffice basketball have used this unfortunate situation to their advantage, and have continued with their agenda. We at the desk here implore them to re-enact the rules of interoffice basketball and the core principles which are based on “promoting friendly competition between organizations”. It is only by this action will we see the vision of interoffice basketball returning back to its roots, where non-elitist players have the opportunity to compete against players of their peers, and elitist players against theirs.
BELIZE BANK BULLDOGS U-15 AND U-17 VISIT SAN IGNACIO THIS WEEKEND
The U-15 and U-17 arms of the Belize Bank Bulldogs, led by coaches Roscoe Rhys, Darwin Leslie and Rupert Brown, will be travelling to San Ignacio tomorrow to participate in a friendly basketball exchange with selections from that municipality. The event, which is being organized by the San Ignacio Basketball Association, will commence at 4:00 p.m. and will be a part of the Sacred Heart College Annual Fair. The Bulldogs selections are expected to play All-Star selections from the recently concluded St. Martin’s Credit Union Basketball Tournament. According to the organizers, they are ecstatic about the event, as it will give them an opportunity to evaluate their players’ progression, as they go up against a battle-tested Bulldogs basketball program that has been together for close to two years. This event will tip-off the 2010 version of the BECOL Basketball Tournament, as the two late games feature rematches of last year’s finals, played between Belmopan Trojans and Hydro Power in the U-21 category and Perk-Up Blazers versus E-Three Stars in the senior category.
BBF AND BABO TO HOST REFEREES CERTIFICATION CLINIC
The Belize Basketball Federation (BBF) in collaboration with the Belize Association of Basketball Officials (BABO) will be hosting an international certification clinic for basketball officials from March 27-29. Three of our current four FIBA certified referees will be seeking re-certification. Leading up to this event, BABO will be hosting two training sessions and a national certification clinic for interested individuals wishing to become a basketball official. The schedule for BABO’s officials training sessions are:- March 5-6 at Belize City Center at 9:00 a.m. for Corozal, Orange Walk and Belize Districts; and March 12-13 at the UB gymnasium at 9:00 a.m. for Cayo, Stann Creek and Toledo. Then on March 20-21, the National Certification Clinic for Officials session will be held at the City Center, commencing at 8:30 a.m.; and on March 27-29, the FIBA License Certification Clinic at the Biltmore Plaza, starting at 8:30 a.m.