All is set for start of NBL

Interim president of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), Calvin Martin, said all systems are now in place for next month's start of competition in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Martin, who was named interim president of JaBA following the sudden resignation of Dr Mark Broomfield in September, told The Gleaner that the organisation is currently negotiating with a number of sponsors and he is very optimistic that these deals will come through.

"All plans are in full gear towards the January start," said Martin.

"We have been in discussion with several partners and so we will soon finalise that and so we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything work out for us," he said.

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.

Martin added that they are now working towards completing the registration of teams ahead of the January 20 start date.

"Right now we are doing the registration work ," he said.

Martin noted that interest in the NBL has been growing among teams because everyone is looking forward to the start of the competition.

"The teams are gearing up and come January you will see an increase in preseason activities," said Martin who is also the president of Southern Conference Basketball Association.

"We expect to have approximately 27 teams. These teams will be drawn from southern Conference, Western Conference, Central Conference and Eastern Conference," Martin stated.