The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH they had a reduction in the teams participating in the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association this year, president Mynez Sherman felt the regular season was still competitive and she anticipates the postseason will be even more exciting.

The NPWBA closed out its regular season last night and will begin its best-of-three playoffs on Saturday at the DW Davis Gymnasium when the second place Career Builders Lady Cheetahs will take on the third place Super Value Cybots Queens.

The winner will book their ticket into the final when they will face the defending champions and pennant winning Boomer G Lady Operators, who got a bye after the fourth place Elite Ladies Basketball Club got eliminated because of financial issues.

“We had lesser teams, but it was still competitive,” Sherman said. “Except for the Elites, the teams were evenly matched and that was evident as the season went right down to the wire.

“Even though the Operators get a bye into the championship, we will see how the Cheetahs and the Operators battle it out to join them. Any one of those teams can win on any night, depending on which team brings their best game out to the gym.”

With just four teams, compared to the minimum of six that is normally entered, Sherman said it was a task keeping the teams motivated and, at the same time, dealing with the junior development programme that is staged on Saturdays.

“The juniors have been coming along. We have even teams playing in the junior programme and next year we are looking to form a draft system,” she projected.

“This year we tried to have two groups for players aged 12-15 and 16-18, but we ran into some problems with the 16-18 because most of the players were involved in other sports.”

Now into the third year of her four-year stint at the helm of the only surviving women’s night league programme in the country, Sherman said it’s a lot different than when she served as the initial president when the league was formed in 2006 after they broke away from the New Providence Basketball Association.

“I think the biggest challenge with the women’s league is that it doesn’t stand alone,” Sherman said. “It’s part of an organisation, but I’m really disappointed that the Bahamas Basketball Federation doesn’t give it any attention at all.

“So when you are a part of an organisation, it depends on where the head takes you. When that isn’t functioning, there isn’t anything that you can do. It makes it more difficult for you to function. I was hoping that as the only surviving women’s basketball programe that the federation would be more supportive.”

Despite the lack of support from the BBF, Sherman said they continue to function and, with the limited resources, they are still able to provide the championship rings to their players for the third consecutive year as an incentive.

Next year, Sherman said they are hoping to have the return of the University of the Bahamas Mingoes and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force as well as the possibility of the Johnson’s Lady Truckers, one of their more dominant teams.

The Operators, formerly the Burger King Angels, has remained the most stable team in the league and long-time coach Anthony Swaby said their aim is to continue to be a part of the organization.

Swaby, a former administrator of the league who now serves as the assistant coach to the Operators’ head coach Donnie Culmer, commended Sherman on the manner in which she has held the league together.

“Mynez Sherman, when she took over the league, found it in a financial fiasco,” he said. “Teams for the last few years before she took over, were promised championship rings, but they never got them.

“She found a way to make sure that the Lady Truckers and the Lady Operators got their rings the last two years. It’s something that she didn’t have to do, but she made a commitment and she did it. Although there was a shortage of teams this year she made sure that the league continues to run.”

Swaby tipped his hat off to Sherman, whom he said made sure every night that the games are played with or without the support of the executives who were voted to serve with her in office.

“I made it a point to go out there and assist her as much as I could because I don’t want to see the women’s league disappoint, considering the work that was put into getting it off the ground,” he insisted.

“Ever since she became president, I made a commitment to her that I will do whatever I can to help her. I have just been pleased to see how she has managed to function with very little help, except from her family members, who are not even on the board.”

Despite the absence of the University of the Bahamas for the past two years and the Truckers’ departure this year, Swaby said the league has been very competitive and they are eager to complete the season.

Swaby and the former Angels won the first two championship titles and after changing their names to the Operators, they clinched another two. The Truckers, however, holds the record, having won five titles, including three straight and the Cheetahs won the other two in the history of the 11-year-old league.

Note: The best-of-three playoffs will start on Saturday with the Cheetahs and the Cybots Queens playing at 8 pm.