National basketballer donates 30 sneakers to three schools

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

The Queen's School, Camperdown High and St Hugh's High are a step ahead of their rivals going into next year's schools' basketball season.

National female basketball player Simone Edwards, through her foundation Simone4 Children, donated 30 pairs of sneakers to the three schools on Wednesday.

Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, minister of youth, sports and culture, was the guest speaker at the press briefing which was held in the Independence Park Limited Hospitality Room at the National Stadium. Grange told the youngsters that they must work hard, stay focused and disciplined in order to achieve their goals.

"This is a very special day for some very young and gifted female basketball players, and so don't take today for granted, because Simone was just like you," said Grange.

"I think that most of you are from humble homes and I am sure that you have your challenges; and so you have to give thanks for small mercies and accept that everything that is given to you is a blessing," said the sports minister.

Grange added: "One day, all you young ladies sitting here are going to be great, and you are going to be famous, and look back at the times when you had your challenges. And you must always remember that you should give back, because there are others who are going to be just like you and would need your help and support."

Kiesha Lindsay, female com-missioner of basketball, made the presentation on behalf of Edwards who was absent from yesterday's ceremony. Lindsay said the donation was a welcome boost for female basketball because most of the schools which participated in the high schools' competition find it very difficult to buy proper footwear for their players.

"I am honoured to be a part of this association and with the fact that she (Simone Edwards) made this donation through the female body. I must thank her for this, and we are looking forward to greater things to come in the new year," said Lindsay.

"This is our first step towards encouraging the girls to come and participate in the sport, because there are a lot of scholarships offers out there that these young ladies can achieve in order to get a higher education," she said.

Lindsay added: "We do have a good crop of young players in our high-school system. However, we only have 15 schools across the island that participate in the schools competition; and so I am appealing to the other schools to get involved in the sport of basketball.

Meanwhile, Lorrel Meikle, coach of The Queen's School, said he was very grateful for the donation.

"We really welcome any form of help that we can get to keep the girls interested in the game," said Meikle. "We have people who are coming to training who can't really afford it, and so this is a welcome boost for us," Meikle said.

Holy Childhood are the defending champions of the high schools' competition, which is slated to start early next year.