BASSETERRE St. Kitts, August 17th, 2012 -- The St.Kitts Amateur Basketball Association is continuing is “season of firsts” with the introduction for the first time of glass backboards and backboard mounted shot clocks. The two features are currently being constructed and mounted in time for this weekends start of the 2012 playoffs. The glass backboards are NBA specified and will be the first glass backboard used in a SKABA League.
At the start of the 2012 league a new massive 6’ x 6’ state of the art Game Clock was unveiled. According to President Romel Tobias the clock, shot clocks and the backboards are all part of his associations efforts to enhance the game of basketball and it s development.
“The game clock, glass back boards, shot clocks have been long overdue and I am happy my executive and I were able to finalise the procurement of these vital pieces of equipment which will enhance the game of basketball and its development throughout the island, “ said SKABA Chief Romel Tobias
The 2012 league is being described as one of the most successful with a larger number of teams participating than in recent years . The expansion of league games to rural areas such as Challengers, Molyneux as well as other areas including Newtown, Bird Rock and for the first time Nevis where some 6 Premier division games were played on the neighboring island were welcomed and well received initiatives.
This enabled the league to be completed in almost record time as despite the addition of a number of teams the league is scheduled to be completed by early September, a full month and a half earlier than normal. In 2009 the league ended in November while in 2010 in late October and early October in 2011.
Another first for SKABA was the sponsorship deal signed with the Bigger Better Network Digicel. The league received for the first time a sponsorship deal of more than $20,000 when they received the highest single season sponsorship deal ever with a $25,000 Digicel sponsorship package.
The SKABA along with their counterparts in Dominica also staged for the first time the hugely successful Sugar Creole Basketball Festival which featured the national team of Dominica and their 7foot former NBA player Garth Joseph and drew hundreds of fans both to the Challengers Hardcourt and Basketball City.
The 2nd edition of this now annual event will take place in Domnica in November and will feature the National Teams of Dominica, St.Kitts, Martinique and Antigua. The SKABA in collaboration with the Acheivers sports club also re-introduced the Business League which is expected to take place once again during the off season in the months of October to December.
Tobias made a commitment to continue his development thrust as President for the remainder of his term and if re-elected.
“There are quite a number of initiatives that my executive and I are vigorously pursuing and intend to complete by the end of the year, said Tobias.
“Some of these initiatives includes the hosting of a number of local and regional coaching and referees clinics as well as the re-establishment of the National Senior and Junior Mens Basketball programmes. We are already in the final stages of preparation for the launch of the SKABA High Schools Basketball Tournament which would be the first of its kind in quite a number of years,” Tobias continued.
Tobias also singled out a number of Sponsors and Contributors who made all the “firsts” of 2012 season a reality.
“I must take this opportunity to thank a number of our sponsors and contributors including the SKNOC, Digicel, National Bank, Kajola Kristada, Development Bank, Ministry of Sports, Carib Brewery, S.L Stage Lighting, Amerijet International, DHL Express, Ministery of Finance, TDC, S.L Horsford and Co Ltd, Trevor West Stevens, Rawlins Sports Gear, Jeffers Metal Craft and Freedom FM all of whom have come forward to support the development of basketball in the federation through their partnership with SKABA,” said President Tobias
The 2012 SKABA Playoffs tips off this Sunday with two big games when Horsfords Ghetto Roots plays Fig Tree Dirt Revellers and Challengers Exodus plays defending Champions Ghaut Bucs.
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