Mitchell gets call to save national basketball set-up

A call has been made for President of the Bequia Basketball Association Sabrina Mitchell to take over the reins of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Basketball Federation.{{more}}

The call was mde by Director of Sports and Physical Education Nelson Hillocks, who expressed satisfaction with Mitchell’s approach to sports administration.

Hillocks made that unrepentant statement last Saturday evening at the opening ceremony of the 14th hosting of the Bequia Basketball Tournament.

“President Mitchell, can you come and take the national association for us, please?” Hillocks asked.

Hillocks, who spoke after Parliamentary Representative of the Northern Grenadines Dr Godwin Friday, also took a cue from one of Friday’s statements.

“I want also to steal something from Dr Friday; he said that the Bequia Basketball should be a model for the other associations, but I want to extend it and say that it should be a model for other associations in St Vincent and the Grenadines. You are doing a fine job, Bequia Basketball Association,” Hillocks said forcefully.

The Director of Physical Education and Sports said he was particularly pleased with the seventy youths between the ages of 5 and 15 years old, who are participating in the Mary Tidland Foundation of Canada, Courts SVG Ltd and Bequia Technology Centre Under-16 Division.

Echoing similar sentiments as Hillocks was President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Venold Coombs, who called on the football officials on Bequia to pick the brains of Mitchell and get their organization to adopt the same professional approach as exhibited by Mitchell.

Meanwhile, President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Basketball Federation Cleophas Glynn agreed that things are not satisfactory at the national level.

“I am calling for a revamping of the Federation; from my vantage point, we are indeed in need of a total make-over,” Glynn conceded.

Glynn further took a swipe at his own organization’s operations.

“We have to understand for the game to be continuing growing, [it] depends on the youth and unfortunately, we don’t have that on the mainland, and I must commend Sabrina and her team for having an Under-16 age category, which means Basketball will continue to grow here in Bequia,” Glynn said.

Mitchell has been at the helm of the BBA since 2001, and has never been opposed for the top position.

Apart from heading the BBA, Mitchell also serves on the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Executive as Secretary General and is a Central Board member on the FIBA Americas Executive. She is also a Board Member of Adonal Foyle’s Kerosene Lamp Foundation. (RT)