Theron “Ronnie” Richards, president of the Virgin Islands Basketball Federation (VIBF) has announced the training camp schedule for the Senior Men’s VI National Basketball team.
The team will train seniors from June 4 through June 19 on St. Croix in preparation for the 2016 Centro Basket Championships. This year’s tournament will be held in Panama City, Panama, June 21-29.
The coaching staff of the senior men’s team will be headed up by:
Head Coach Sam Mitchell, former head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors; Assistant Coach Raja Bell, former NBA player and former director of player personnel for the Cleveland Cavaliers; Assistant Coach Mike Evans, former assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets; and Assistant Coach Jareem Dowling, presently assistant coach of Arkansas State University.
The national team is sponsored by Hotel Caravelle and Casino, St. Croix, and will utilize local facilities for training and scrimmages.
President Richards reminds the Virgin Islands community that the territory has successfully qualified four national teams during the 2015 summer that competed at various Sub-Zone and Sub-Zone levels:
Ø The Virgin Islands Under-17 Men teams represented the territory at the 2015 Centro Basket Championships held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At this tournament the Under 17 men won the silver medal. Winning the medal qualified the Under 17 team for Tournament of Americas in 2016. This tournament level is one step away from the world games.
Ø The Senior Women’s National team won the bronze medal at the 2015 Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championships held in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Ø The Senior Men’s National team won the gold medal at the 2015 Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championships held in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Ø Finally, the Senior Women’s National Team, for the first time in the history of V.I. women’s basketball, qualified for the 2015 America’s Championship held in Edmonton, Canada.
Both the women’s and men’s teams will be representing the CBC at the 2016 Centro Basket Championships (CBC). The CBC qualifies three national teams out of 23 to participate in the championships, which include the top eight women’s and the top 10 men’s national teams. There are 32 national teams in Central America and the Caribbean.
