The Jamaica Basketball Association is gearing up for a 3x3 tournament in Miami next month.
Association president Paulton Gordon is anticipating that a good performance for both national teams will pave the way for Jamaica to big competitions in the future.
“Coming up next, we have the 3x3 Americup in Miami, Florida, November 12-14,” he said.
Seen first at the Youth Olympics, the 3x3 format was added to the Summer Olympic programme this year.
“It did very well in Tokyo and a lot of persons are looking forward to Paris. So we are part of that,” Gordon said with an eye on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Miami will host 18 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams.
Jamaica’s men’s 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, we have to be a part of the qualifying draw,” Gordon said. “So we have the qualifying draw and emerging from that, we are expecting to be in the main draw the days following.”
The association has begun to identify the players who will contest the Americup.
“What we have been doing is, based on the limited exposure, looking at the persons who are here locally to see what their condition is like, they haven’t been playing any basketball, and Rick Turner, the national men’s team coordinator, has been looking at some of the players that he used in El Salvador (at the 2023 World Cup Pre-Qualifiers tournament in April) and contacting some players who are in college and playing professionally to see if we can come up with a nice mix of players who can represent us well,” Gordon said.
A good result will stamp Jamaica’s passport to events like the Commonwealth Games.
“That’s why we want to do well in the Americup tournament,” Gordon said. “It helps with our ranking and then what we’ll do, subsequent to that, is play as much 3x3 local competitions and build up our ranking and ensure we’re a part of that mix.”
He expects the wave of change to continue.
“They’ve moved away from the full court at the Commonwealth Games and I’m anticipating they’ll do the very same for the Pan-Am and the CAC Games the following year,” he said. “So we have to pay a little more attention to what they’re doing with 3x3 basketball now, and so we want to, over the next three to six months, do as much as possible to ensure that we are part of that mix.”