SPRING INVITE: Organiser Geno Bullard anticipates that the Noble Preparatory Academy’s Invitational Spring Classic Basketball Tournament will be bigger and better this year starting Thursday to Saturday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.
By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
THE Noble Preparatory Academy’s Invitational Spring Classic Basketball Tournament is back and organiser Geno Bullard anticipates that it will be bigger and better this year.
The classic is set for Thursday to Saturday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and, for the first time, it will feature the varsity senior and junior boys and girls teams.
“For many years we have been trying to put together this programme where we incorporate education with basketball,” said Bullard, the president of Noble Preparatory Academy. “That is my first priority, developing student-athletes.
“So I always wanted to build a programme where we can be sure that during the tournament, we can have educational opportunities with persons who can speak on an educational platform.”
During the tournament, Bullard said they have put together a solid programme where they will have a number of persons who will be providing tips for students seeking to further their education in college.
“Over the years, we at NPA, have been giving away scholarships from our tournament,” said Bullard, who also serves as the head coach of the NPA Spartans basketball teams for boys and girls. “Hopefully in the future, we will be able to put that back in place.”
With more than 30 teams registered to participate in the tournament, Bullard said they hope to entertain the spectators with an appearance by Julian Believe and Friends.
“So it’s going to be three days of fun, education and entertainment where family members can come out in a safe environment where they can learn some stuff from Niagara College where they offer over 100 programmes.
“We have been working with Niagara College for over 15 years and we have been able to get a number of student-athletes off to compete in Canada and we hope that we can continue to do that this year.”
The competition, according to Bullard, will be very intense with teams participating from both the public and private schools. “We have Charles W Saunders, the BAISS champions, CI Gibson, the GSSSA champions,” Bullard said. “We also have Teleos from the BSA and a team from the Turks and Caicos Islands also competing.
“I know the competition is going to be great because we have a good mixture of competition from across the board. So we know that they will come out and compete and represent their schools well.”
If there’s any concern about host NPA, Bullard said his Spartans will be just as competitive.
“Any opportunity we get, we prepare our student-athletes,” Bullard said. “When we have opportunities arise for our students, we allow them to compete and if they are good enough, we get them to go off to the prep schools or Niagara College in Canada.”
Bullard said they will add another dimension when they stage an alumni game that allows student-athletes who played NPA and Niagara Falls against a men’s division one team from the New Providence Basketball Association. “That’s going to be a bonus game just to highlight some of our players from Noble Preparatory Academy, who went on to play for Niagara College.”
The action kicks off on Thursday at 4pm with games continuing on Friday at the same time.
The tournament is slated to wrap up on Saturday, following a 10am start that day.
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