Sports

Raptor’s Wiggins Here To Help

Basketball Illustration

Basketball

AS part of its continued developmental initiatives for basketball, the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation is hosting John Wiggins, the NBA’s Development League Toronto Raptors 905 Director of Team Operations, who is of Saint Lucian parentage.

According to the SLBF, Wiggins expressed the desire to assist in the development of basketball on the island, which was welcomed as another step towards the systematic development and growth of the game.

As such, the SLBF along with Wiggins and the technical committee of the SLBF headed by Anthony Lamontagne, will be coordinating a number of activities to coincide with his visit.

The main objective of the engagement to assess the current level of our structure, athletes, and administrators and to further develop short/medium and long-term plans and guidelines for the enhancement of basketball, particularly among youth and females.

President of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation, Leslie Collymore, said: “We are very excited yet gracious for John giving his time, experience and expertise towards helping us develop basketball locally. We recognize that for us to reach the level of some of our regional counterparts we must tap into the resources available to us.”

img: wiggins
Wiggins

From 10:00 a.m. today, all coaches, physical education teachers and other individuals interested in the development of the sport are invited to a focus group session in the conference room of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports. The session is intended for Wiggins to get a feel of the challenges faced, knowledge and education and resources.

From 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex, players from the western, eastern and southern quarters of the island will participate in a player skill assessment session. Players will undergo a series of drills and exercises in order to identify their level of play and comprehension. This will also be the first phase of the selection of individuals to be invited to national team tryouts.

On Monday afternoon at the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, managers of affiliate clubs and teams are invited to a session intended to review the structure of their organizations, operating cost efficiency, revenue generation and fund raising efforts, information sharing of operational successes, recruitment and retention and access to resources for development and growth.

Also on Monday at the Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex, a session will be held for players in the northern quadrant of the island. The activities will be the same as in today’s session for southern players and will form part of national team selections as well.

On Tuesday at the Beausejour Indoor Facility, a session will be held for all players around the island involved in Saturday and Monday’s sessions and any other interested players.

The sessions are expected to be informative and Wiggins said he is looking forward to hearing players’ concerns and sharing his experiences with them.

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