The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Basketball Federation and its partners are all geared up to host the Annual General meeting of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island this weekend.

At a press conference yesterday in the executive boardroom of Atlantis, BBF first vice president Mario Bowleg said the Bahamas will play host to about 30 delegates from 22 countries, along with Horacio Muratore, president of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Alberto Garcia, executive director of FIBA Americas and Usie Richards, the president of FIBA Americas.

The delegations will start arriving here today and will be in meetings at Atlantis from 9am on Saturday. During the meeting, Bowleg said all of the venues for the 2016 calendar of events will be confirmed for the senior men and women national teams, including the Centrobasket for men in Panama June 20-26 and CBC Junior Tournament in Puerto Rico.

Additionally, Bowleg said discussions will include the move by FIBA to host home and away games for the teams participating in the various international tournaments.

“The Bahamas will be hosting some of its international events, commencing in 2017,” Bowleg said. “So based on where we finish in Centrobasket this summer, will determine how we are slated in the A pool or the B pool and who our competition will be in the home and away series in 2017.”

Bowleg, who also serves as the head coach of the men’s national basketball team, said it’s important for the Bahamas to show the movers and shakers in FIBA that they are capable of not only hosting the annual general meeting, but also a major international tournament in the future.

“When you talk about having Horacio Muratore, who is the president of FIBA worldwide, here in the country with Usie Richards the president of FIBA Americas, that is huge,” Bowleg said. “To have them meet with the Minister of Sports Dr Daniel Johnson and Ed Fields of Atlantis, we can discuss some things that FIBA can do to assist the Bahamas in hosting some major events.

“So this is huge to have them come in our backyard and discuss the possibilities of making some of these things happen. We know that Battle 4 Atlantis is one of the top basketball tournaments played in the world and when you look at the arena that it is played in and the product that is displayed, it’s geared more to FIBA looking at something like that to put their name on.”

Ed Fields, senior vice president of public affairs at Atlantis, said they welcome FIBA and look forward to sitting down and entertaining any discussion of expanding the many international events that they already have on the schedule for their property.

“When we did Miss Universe, it showed that we could essentially be on par with world stage events. So between the Battle 4 Atlantis, Miss Universe and events like the Atlantis gymnastics competition, which has grown from 600 room nights to 4,000 room nights, the Popeyes Bowl and the other competitions like the Bodybuilding Championships, the reality is that we have the capacity to do things at this level,” Fields said.

“There is a wide range of things that can be done and if it’s viable for us and for the partners that we speak with, we will be happy to do it.”

As for the conference this weekend, Fields said they are delighted to extend their partnership with the BBF by hosting the delegates and their AGM.

“We have a very strong affinity with the sport of basketball, especially as it pertains to the Battle 4 Atlantis, which everyone agrees, has exposed the Bahamas to a level of basketball equal to anything in the world. So hopefully we can continue to partner with the BBF so that not only can they continue to grow the sport of basketball in the Bahamas, but bring international tournaments and conferences to keep basketball at the forefront.”

The Ministry of Tourism is also partnering with the BBF in the venture and Virginia Kelly, of the sports marketing department, said it’s just a way to continue to display its commitment to the sport as they seek to host such large conferences and sporting events and “to create great opportunities for our young people.”

With some of the delegates who are coming speaking different languages, Bowleg said the BBF has also forged a relationship with The Bahamas translators, headed by CEO Myrurgia Hernandez.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for our translators, whom we have been training at the College of the Bahamas to be a part of this awesome event as they will have also international experience and it will be good for their practical experience,” said Hernandez, who was accompanied by Laura Tesone. “We just want to tell our interpreters to get ready.”

Countries expected to be represented here this weekend are British Virgin Islands, Barbados, St Kitts & Nevis, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Antigua & Barbuda, Bermuda, Dominica, Haiti, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos, Montserrat, Virgin Islands, Guyana and Suriname.