Jamaica makes bid for CABA championships

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Ajani Williams, president of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), said his administration has made a bid to host this year's staging of the Caribbean Basketball Association championships (CABA), which is scheduled for August.

Williams, who is serving the final weeks of a two-year term ahead of JaBA elections, told The Gleaner in an interview on Monday that Jamaica, along with The Bahamas, made bids at the CABA annual general meeting which was held on February 5.

"The Bahamas and us are the two countries that have expressed a direct interest and it was based on sponsors' interests to me and also the Government is saying that they were interested in supporting that kind of event here," said Williams.

"It will also help to get our guys ready for the qualification for the FIBA World Championships and I think that this will be good for us because a number of our basketball stars are playing right at home," Williams said.

Jamaica, the defending champion of the CABA tournament, last hosted the championships in 2006, when they also won.

The Jamaicans currently have three players plying their trade in the United States' National Basketball Association (NBA) league - Samardo Samuels of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma Thunder's Ryan Reid.

Commitment received

Williams said he has received verbal commitment from all these players, along with European-based Jerome Jordan and Patrick Ewing Jr, that they will make themselves available for the regional championship.

"We will also do some youth camps with the national team and also showcase the best of basketball and the best that Jamaica has to offer on a global setting," Williams said.

He will seek re-election at the JaBA polls on March 13 and believes if he does not get the mandate, it could affect Jamaica's bid to host the tournament.

"It is kind of difficult really to get all the wheels moving, but we have some stuff that we have prepared and we feel that we could get them on stream, and if we were to win the election, we will be able to get those wheels moving quickly," Williams pointed out.

"I don't know what The Bahamas' position is right now, but I know that we are going to make a tough go at it. I am going to continue my negotiations and talking with the CABA and see if they can wait on a final determination after the elections; and if they can't wait until after the elections, then we will probably be losing that bid to The Bahamas," Williams reasoned.