The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net WITH a series of new additions, including a new hardwood floor, the country's longest running and most prominent senior boys' basketball tournament plans to make a return to its original location. If all goes according to plans, the next edition of the Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic could return to the AF Adderley Gymnasium where the tournament began decades ago. The announcement was made during the pregame ceremony of the championship game between the CC Sweeting Cobras and the Eight Mile Rock Bluejays, which the Cobras won 58-46. Evon Wisdom, head of the sports unit in the Ministry of Education, said that the ministry has pledged to fit the gymnasium with a new hardwood floor and various other renovations. AF Adderley principal Drexel Miller said the event will be a welcome return to the school's campus. "We are hoping that the same time next year we will be in the newly refurbished AF Adderley Tigers gym to make sure that the flavour of AF Adderley and the Hugh Campbell returns," he said. "One of the things that we don't have control of right now is the venue. We would much rather have the initial part of the tournament to be held at the school like it was in the beginning. but that will require the gym to be open and up to standard. "The tournament has been great over the years. It is a success. The tournament provides a lot of opportunities for individuals, especially players from the Family Islands who don't get that exposure on a regular basis." The tournament was once exclusively held at the school's gymnasium at the intersection of Blue Hill Road and Tonique Williams-Darling Highway. With the deterioration of the venue and the construction of the Kendal Isaacs gym, the AF Adderley gym staged just the opening rounds of the tournament before eventually being closed altogether in 2004. Said Minister of Education Desmond Bannister about the relocation to the AF Adderley gym: "This is a great moment for all fans of the tournament, the schools, players and everyone involved in its success on a year-to-year basis. We all know of the rich history of the tournament and, for some of the younger ones that may not know, it will be an opportunity to see where this tournament originated. It would be a nice gesture for the Hugh Campbell tournament, at least the preliminary rounds, to return to a cozy setting in its original location.