Blue Chip Basketball Academy extends open invitation

The Blue Chip Basketball Academy SVG is extending an open invitation to persons wanting to learn the sport of basketball.

So says Kendale Thomas, who is the head of basketball operations BCBA SVG.

“We have an open invitation to anyone who wants to learn to play the sport of basketball here in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Thomas told SEARCHLIGHT.

A former St Vincent and the Grenadines player, Thomas expressed the open arms policy, following last Friday’s successful first in-house scrimmage session, which took place at the Girls’ High School court.

Thomas said that since that first event, there have been many requests to join the already enrolled 30-member local set-up.

Relating the outcome of last Friday’s event, Thomas said: “It went very well… We are going to have such an event, once per month… The format would not be the same each time”.

Last Friday, there were mixed teams involved in half-court scrimmages; however, Thomas projected that with the visible progress of the players, soon there would be all-male and all-female teams.

He noted that with time, the BCBA SVG players would be engaging other teams in friendly matches.

Thomas revealed that at present, training is done at the Girls’ High School venue, with the females allocated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the males practise on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

He, however, added that Saturday is the “open” day, where both males and females can train.

The Blue Chip Basketball Academy (BCBA), established by Vincentian Kishon Bishop, a current national basketballer who is residing in North Carolina, USA, has extended its operations by having a BCBA SVG.

Hence, the BCBA SVG has partnered with the Girls’ High School by becoming that institution’s official sponsor of its basketball programme.

The partnership agreement includes the BCBA providing team warm-up gear and uniforms for participation in schools’ tournaments.

Additionally, the agreement will see the Girls’ High School team using the name BCBA Women’s Team when competing in any tournaments or leagues that are not inter-secondary school related.

The BCBA held its second Veronica Bishop Classic at the Campden Park hard court, in early August of this year.

The BCBA also staged basketball clinics at the Girls’ High School hard court and at the Campden Park hard court; the clinic scheduled for Bequia was rained out.

The mission of the BCBA is to provide quality, professional basketball training programmes and leagues for children who are aspiring to become elite players at all levels of competition, specializing in small group skills training, competitive leagues, and youth camps.

Bishop, originally from Campden Park, is a basketball leader/trainer in the Triad area, and is also the assistant Varsity men’s basketball coach at West Forsyth High School and owner/director of Hope & Hope Inc.