News reaching the desk is that the Youth Basketball arm of the Belize Basketball Federation, in collaboration with the Sports Development Office of the National Sports Council headed by Hugh “Pinas” Staine, will be holding a series of coaching clinics, recruitment and enrollment exercises, camps and tournaments for Mini’s, Cadet’s and Junior basketball players in both the female and male categories, commencing as early as Monday of next week.
The program is a continuation of the process which started last year during the summer months and which attracted over four hundred enthusiastic participants. It is once again being headed by the renowned gurus of basketball in Belize City – David Lacey, Matthew Smiling, Fred Gabourel, and Fred Garcia.
The goal of the program continues to be the teaching of the fundamentals of basketball geared at enhancing and developing players’ skills and their knowledge of the game. It will once again be targeting the primary and high school kids, but nevertheless will still accommodate individuals who do not fall into either of those categories.
Coaches and enthusiasts of basketball who wish to be a part of this program are being asked to get in touch with any of the above mentioned personnel, or Mr. Hugh Staine at the National Sports Council.
The first leg gets underway this coming Monday, January 15, and every other Monday thru February 19, 2007, at the City Center Conference Room between the hours of 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.. The recruitment process is underway and runs until February 17. Meanwhile, actual camps for Cadet and Junior players get underway during the period February 24 thru March 31, and April 21 thru May 5, 2007, during the hours 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for Cadets, and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for Juniors. According to the committee, players must attend the camps to be eligible to play in the tournaments.
Interested kids wishing to participate must take note that to qualify for the Cadet level you must have been born during the years 1991, 1992 or 1993. Juniors must have been born during the years 1987, 1988, 1989 or 1990, while Mini’s must have been born 1994 or after. Their (Mini’s) camps however unlike the Cadets and juniors will be held in the summer.
From my perspective at the desk, it is extremely important that a Code of Ethics for coaches be established. It is disheartening to sit at a game at the City Center and see one coach criticizing and passing unkind remarks about another coach. In my books this is not good for the sport, I would much rather see a coach looking out for his fellow brother and not forgetting his obligations as a coach, which is to have high values, principles and act responsibly as a role model to his or her players.
It would also be great if the organizers of this year’s program can incorporate some level of mentoring where fair play, sportsmanship, moral development and teaching of life skills are included. It has always been misconstrued that sports build character and that character is an automatic by-product of sports participation. Rather, character must be specifically “taught,” versus “caught”
OTHER BASKETBALL NOTES
· After a one-year hiatus, Female basketball apparently will be in full swing this coming February 9 as Shelmadine Cacho and WIN-BELIZE will be hosting its second such tournament. The last one was held in the year 2005 with “Sparks” winning that championship. The tournament, according to Shelmadine, will be organized under the theme “Fitness against Gender Based Violence and HIV/AIDS”. Both Junior and Senior players are invited to participate. The season will run for about six weeks with games being played at the City Center on Wednesdays and Fridays.
· We have also received word that one-time local female basketball star Tracey Garnett is now attending Monroe Junior College in New York, United States of America, and is doing quite well both academically and athletically. She has maintained a respectable GPA, and at the same time is playing on the female basketball team, averaging about 10 ppg.