JABA awaits protocols from Ministry of Health to restart competitions
“We had plans to have even some three- on- three activities, but we did not get any approval, not even the Montego Bay Cricket Club is giving us permission for any basketball activities.”
Williams, who is also a FIBA match commissioner, the FIBA 3X3 coordinator for Jamaica, the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) basketball coordinator for the Western Conference and a certified referee, table official and coach, admitted it “was a big setback for all stakeholders but the fact is we can’t get around the Government stipulations, so we have no options but to pray for the virus threat to subside and then pick up and move forward the best way we can.”
The novel coronavirus pandemic has also resulted in the cancellation of the fourth staging of the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic NCAA Men’s Division One basketball event that is normally staged in November at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
That event, Williams noted, is usually one of the major highlights of the season.
“We hope we will get the
NCAA event here again next year as the younger players with ambitions of playing college basketball have gotten accustomed to getting the chance to watch the games live,” he said.
Meanwhile, Williams was unsure whether JABA would continue the National Basketball League where Falmouth Saints were leading the points standings at the time of the stoppage earlier this year.
“It had not been officially abandoned or cancelled by JABA, so there are still hopes to complete it,” he argued.