[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s the St. Lucia Basketball Federation concludes an exciting and productive 2017, there are a number of initiatives left on our calendar of events. Here’s an update on what’s happening and upcoming initiatives below:
Over the last few weeks, every Monday and Wednesday the SLBF has held National Senior Male team selection workouts. This initiative is one that has been long overdue and so we are happy to be at this point.
There was a talent assessment held in 2016 subsequent to which the SLBF technical committee and the SLBF Executive, invited at least 60 players island wide to attend national training. The team will be broken down over the next few months and subsequently this team will represent St Lucia in the 2021 FIBA Americup Prequalifying Tournament (formerly known as CBC Championships) in June 2018 in Suriname. This will be a first for St Lucia and we are excited about the progress thus far.
The St Lucia Basketball Federation and the Department of Sports will be facilitating a two-day workshop for the affiliates of the SLBF. The SLBF has come to realize that there are some requisite skills and systems lacking, for effective functioning affiliates and there is a need for training and sensitization for those charged with this mandate to execute their duties as affiliates. In light of this, the SLBF has collaborated to host a Capacity Building workshop on December 5 and 7, 2017 at 5:30 to 7:00 pm for all affiliates. The workshop’s objectives are to assist participants in developing requisite leadership and administrative skills, and to assist in the development and growth of the game of basketball on the island.
This workshop takes place at the conference room of the Department of Youth Development & Sports, Micoud Street and will focus on the following topics including roles and responsibilities of executive members, sustaining an organization, proposal writing, financial management and public relations.
This workshop is geared to enable these bodies to explore and to reach their full potential. At the end of this workshop, it is anticipated that a new level of professionalism will be maintained moving forward.
After the successful staging of the national youth 3×3 qualifiers in 2016 and hosting of the inaugural IBF Lesser Antilles Finals February 2017, it is now time to host the annual 3×3 youth national qualifiers.
The winners of the qualifiers (male and female) will automatically be selected to participate in the IBF Lesser Antilles 3×3 Finals in 2018. This tournament was scheduled to take place in Saint Martin between May and July, 2018 however due to the damage sustained during the recently concluded hurricane season, the location is currently being reviewed by the International Basketball Foundation and as such may be changed as well as the date.
Nevertheless, the SLBF will be hosting the Youth 3×3 Finals as part of National Day Celebrations on December 17, 2017. This event will be a fun day as well as a fundraising activity. As such, we will have food and drinks available for sale with an entry fee of $5.00.
The 3×3 Youth Qualifiers will be for both male and female players (born 2000, 2001, 2002 etc). We anticipate having at least four female teams and 10 or more male teams.
