North, Central Zone teams battle for basketball places

That encounter is carded for 8:15 pm at the Southern Regional Indoor Sporting Complex in Pleasantville.

In the first match of a double-header, third and fourth place teams in the Central Zone— Snipers and Upstate will square-off from 7 pm.

The play-offs were initially expected to take place among the third and fourth place teams in the North, Central and East Zones, but Vice president Organisation and Development of the NBFTT Earle Noel told Newsday last week that the East Zone did not respond to the invitation to participate.

The play-offs will continue tomorrow with the winning teams in the respective zones facing each other at the same venue. The winners tonight will earn a spot in the national championship.

Fourteen teams will contest the National Basketball Championship which is likely to take place at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. They are the top two teams in North, East, Central, South and Tobago zones, as well as the winning team in the North East (Sangre Grande) and South West (Point Fortin).

Brian Manning, president of the NBFTT is confident that the National Championships will produce a high standard of play and will serve as a platform for the future development of the game.

The realisation of the National Championships is another triumph for the Manning administration which has received resounding support all around.

Since taking over the reins of the NBFTT, several initiatives have been instituted by Manning which has had immediate and significant impact of the game locally.

Manning hopes that the officials can capitalise on the momentum generated by the success of the initiatives for the benefit of the clubs, players and the national team.

He has called on all the stakeholders to exercise their responsibility to the national game and wants some officials to discard their selfish motives if basketball is to progress.

Manning has pointed to the recent outstanding results of the national team at a regional level which has placed Trinidad and Tobago back as title contenders.

And Manning has not been hesitant to streamline the operations of the NBFTT cutting away wasteful expenditure by demanding that paid officials produce to earn their keep.

As expected his actions have attracted criticism from several quarters but his results have been widely welcomed by basketball observers sensing winds of change blowing through the administration of the sport.