ANTIGUA BARBUDA BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

From top left - right: Ahmani Browne, Sheldon Gomes, Judah Ferris and Eric Joseph

Press Release - February 5, 2017 (St John’s, Antigua). The Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association (ABBA) has selected the country’s first ever Under 18 3x3 National Youth Team.

After hosting a successful U18 3x3 National qualifier tournament, ABBA is pleased to announce the National 3x3 Youth Team selected to represent Antigua and Barbuda in the upcoming International Basketball Foundation (IBF) Lesser Antilles 3x3 International Youth Championships.

The Championship will be held in Castries, Saint Lucia on February 25th and 26th respectively.

Of the eight teams that participated in the National Qualifiers held in September, 2016, the winning team, comprising of Judah Ferris, Sheldon Gomes and Eric Joseph, were victorious and formed the National 3x3 Youth Team in addition to Ahmani Brown.

Brown, who represented another team in the national qualifier, was selected as the 4th player to complete the team of four to compete against eleven other Caribbean Teams in the upcoming Championships.

President of the Association, Daryll Matthew, is ecstatic that Antigua and Barbuda will be a part of history, and equates this competition to 20/20 Cricket. “It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, and it’s a new side of Basketball that will be the next big thing worldwide”, Matthew states.

The competition will see the likes of teams such as Aruba, Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, France (Guadeloupe, Martinique), and the Netherlands (Curacao, Saint Maarten).

ABBA 3x3 Coordinator, Gemma Hazelwood, is confident that the Antigua and Barbuda Pitbulls will do very well in the competition as training preparations are progressing smoothly.

The Association is encouraging the general public and stakeholders to support the youths on their journey to the IBF 3x3 International Youth Championships slated for February 25 and 26th.