It was an exciting night for female basketball in Trinidad and Tobago as the inaugural Fiesta Female League (FFL) hosted its draft night at the Maitagual Community Centre Petit Bourg. The evening was filled with cheers of excitement as the coaches first pulled to see which franchise would receive the 1st pick and who would be the top franchise players for each program.
The Sunshine Snacks with their first pick selected combo guard Ty Warwick out of club Spartans TT, which was a crowded shocker as the fan favourite Carissa Ramdial the Point Guard out of Club Enterprise went to the Republic Bank Stars with the 2nd pick. The Enterprise squad went at 2nd and 3rd with point guard Mya Raymond going to the MILO Vipers. With the 4th pick the WiPay Sparks selected power forward Ize Teo Best from club Royalty. The 5th pick went to the Digicel Wildcats who selected the Maloney Pacers centre Jilissa Briggs and wrapping up the first-round picks the Next Level performance Comets selected small forward Kayleea Songui of Maloney Pacers Basketball Academy.
At the draft, teams selected 8 players each with a wide cross-section of players from different clubs making up their rosters, with 46 girls being drafted in the first edition of the FFL. According to the athletic director of the program Garvin Warwick, 'The atmosphere was amazing. It's something new we are trying with the development of female basketball in the country in mind. While we know who the top players are in the country the aim is to increase participation in the sport across the country.'
FFL23 will run from the 15th of January to the 26th of March 2023. Games are being played across different venues on Sundays between 1 pm and 5 pm. The games will also be streamed lived on Sports Streams TT on YouTube. The action bounce starts this Sunday 15th at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sporting Arena with the WiPAY Sparks taking on the NLP Comets in game one. Sunshine Snacks Warriors will take on MILO Vipers in game two and the last game of the evening will see Republic Banks Stars versus Digicel Wildcats.
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