The Tribune

By Renaldo Dorsett

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A STAPLE of the holiday season basketball schedule for senior boys’ programmes, the Providence Basketball Club is again providing an opportunity for teams to showcase their skills and get an early assessment of their clubs headed into the new year.

The 15th edition of the tournament tips off today and runs through December 30 at the DW Davis Gymnasium.

Participating teams include the CI Gibson Rattlers, CC Sweeting Cobras, Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins, St Augustine’s Big Red Machine, Queen’s College Comets, Temple Christian Suns, Teleos Cherubims, St George’s Jaguars (Grand Bahama), Agape Christian Eagles (Abaco) and South Andros High.

Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, the founder and president of the Providence Basketball Club, said ever since they started the tournament in 2003, they have seen a significant improvement in the players coming out of the Christmas break.

“The purpose of the tournament is not only to get our young men scholarships, but definitely keep them busy during the holiday and to keep them sharp for the second half of the season,” he said. “We know both the public and private schools will open back up in January and this will provide an opportunity for our young men to play some competitive basketball before then.”

Johnson, the long time coach of the Rattlers, previously told the Tribune that the additional repetition serves both players and coaches well during the break.

“I think basketball has grown a bit, even though we as coaches have to work on our skills set to get our kids to play at the next level and our kids have to be more disciplined to work on their craft on their own when we teach them.

“But the competition has always been very keen. We have some teams that might be a little better than one another, but overall, it seems to be a balanced playing field in terms of the competition and I’m looking for it to be a very good tournament.”

The Rattlers are the defending champions. In the 2017 title game, they defeated St George’s 80-59 and finished the tournament with a 6-0 record.