Mitchell Hopeful About Basketball Resumption

Sabrina Mitchell, President of the Bequia Basketball Association (BBA), is hopeful that some basketball activity will resume soon in Bequia. Mitchell noted that no full-fledged tournament has been held since 2019, this as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent displacement caused by the eruption of the La Soufrire volcano. "Since our last tournament in 2019, it's been lots of stress with the COVID -19 pandemic affecting sporting activities. And despite acquiring some funds from the National Federation (Basketball), through the National Olympic Committee, it's uncertain whether we are going to have our normal tournament this year,' Mitchell said. She confirmed: "We are thinking about having a three-week tournament in August, in all three divisions,' and she recognized that, "Having a mini tournament will also to help to keep everyone's spirit alive because people are very depressed about sports globally.' She assured that should the mini tournament be staged, "We will have all protocols in place for players and officials, (and) make sure everyone is safe by also encouraging social distancing for the spectators.' Another of those protocols the president referenced was the possibility to have all the players vaccinated. "I am a strong believer of the vaccine and see it as the only realistic option to get the planet back to normalcy. Unfortunately, there is a lot of hesitancy here due may be to the lack of education and knowledge of the vaccine,' she conceded. "It's a dynamic situation so we putting things together tentatively to see if we can get that (mini tournament) done,' Mitchell said, while recognising that all of what is hoped for, would depend on how things pan out with the pandemic, how the numbers of cases stack up. The Annual Bequia Basketball Tournament has developed as one of the premiere tournaments in the state. It has attracted attention from outside the state and a number of participants in the tournaments have gone off on scholarships to as far afield as Taiwan. Mitchell, who is also Secretary-General of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) and a Member of the Finance Commission of basketball's international parent body FIBA's, cited the setback for sports in general but focused on the absence of the basketball tournament as affecting the players development, especially the junior players. "Yes, of course COVID has changed the lives of every human being on the planet, but we are still hopeful things can turn around for the better. The love of basketball is still there but no one can play, and it has impacted the overall development drastically, not just the sports but also the player's development. Some of the young players have lost a year of development,' Mitchel said with mixed feelings.
Courtesy of: thevincentian.com