NBL to return later this year

President of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), Dr Mark Broomfield, is reassuring basketball fans that the National Basketball League (NBL) competition will take place this year.

The NBL, which is the island's premier basketball tournament, was last held in 2012 under former president Ajani Williams. However, since then, JaBA has struggled to secure a sponsor for the competition.

However, Broomfield, who took over as president from Williams in 2015, said the NBL would go ahead this year, regardless of sponsorship.

The JaBA boss added that his association is hoping to the start the league in October.

"With or without a sponsor, we are going to have the National Basketball League this year," Broomfield said. "We might not be able to run it the way we want to, but we are going to run it," he said.

"We have the SDC (Social Development Commission) League, which is going to run, so we want that at the end of the SDC league, we will move into the NBL," Broomfield said.

CASH TO CARE

"It always takes cash to care, but what I have learnt is that you work with what you have and then you await the perfect situation because you can't just sit and wait on sponsors, we have to run the league," Broomfield said.

"Sometimes, you have to start and then others will jump on board.

"Our executives have met and they have all agreed that we must run the league this year with or without a sponsor, but it doesn't mean that we are not looking for sponsors," he said.

Broomfield said the SDC League would help to generate a lot of buzz and excitement among the basketball fans, which he expects will spill over into the NBL.

"We have a number of basketball leagues that are going to propel into the NBL, but the fact that there is a long lay-off, of course, is going to affect the players. But we are committed to starting the league and bringing vibes back into basketball."