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JBA names Americup teams

Published:Tuesday | November 9, 2021 | 12:07 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
National basketball team head coach, Rick Turner (left), gives instructions to members of the national team during a training session at the National Stadium courts last month.
Kenyon Hemans
National basketball team head coach, Rick Turner (left), gives instructions to members of the national team during a training session at the National Stadium courts last month.

THE JAMAICA Basketball Association (JBA) has named four men and four women to represent the island at an important 3x3 tournament, the Americup 3x3 in Miami, Florida, from November 12 to 14.

The men’s roster is Kevin Foster and Romaine Thomas, who were on duty for Jamaica in El Salvador at the 2023 World Cup pre-qualifiers tournament in April, Jabulani ‘Jabs’ Newby and Taevaunn Prince.

The women’s team is Antoinette Bannister, Jose Ann Johnson, Tracy Ann Kelly and Ashlee Gordon.

National coordinator Rick Turner is looking forward to an event that could pave Jamaica’s way to big events in the future, and he believes each player on the squad has the wide range of defensive and attacking skills to meet the requirement of the fast-paced 3x3 game.

“I’m really excited to see them play,” Turner said of the prospects for Jamaica at the Americup tournament before the roster was announced. “Honestly, I’m excited about the team. The guys that we have kind of focused on all fit into that category, skilled and versatile.

“Many of them have professional experience and have been playing the game and getting paid for it for quite a while, and so that will help,” underlined Turner from his perspective as men’s team coach.

A good showing will pry open the door to international tournaments for a sport that had its debut at the Olympics this year in Tokyo.

“I think that really increased the profile of the sport in a big way and so my feeling is that, because of that, the level of player involved is just going to increase, not just with Jamaica, since this is our first time around, but I think other teams are going to start putting a better foot forward in generating their rosters,” the coach said.

Notably, the 3x3 format will make its debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and success in Miami will boost Jamaica’s chances of qualifying for that event.

Miami will host 18 men’s teams and 15 female teams.

Jamaica’s men and women’s teams will start the Americup in the qualifying round.

“There is a ranking system based on your 3x3 tournament domestically and, because we weren’t able to play a lot of those tournaments (because of COVID-19 restrictions), we have to be a part of the qualifying draw. So we have the qualifying draw and, emerging from that, we are expecting to be in the main draw the days following,” predicted Paulton Gordon, JBA president.