Cayman Prepares To Defend Island Games “GOLD” Championship Title!
The Cayman Islands National Men’s Basketball team will head to Gibraltar to defend their NATWEST Island Games Championship title.
Two years ago, the Cayman squad defeated Gibraltar in a nail-biting final in Gotland that saw Cayman hoist the GOLD trophy for the very first time.
At the 2017 Games, Cayman lost to Gibraltar in the opening competition but would win every game thereafter, leading them to the final match where they would get a second chance to redeem themselves against the 2019 hosts.
Cayman Islands Basketball is no stranger to the Island Games and medal board. The triplet island nation has been competing in the multi-sports tournament for twenty years, under the guidance of the Technical Director for Cayman Basketball and then Head Coach Victor “Voot” O’Garro.
Cayman Men’s Basketball team’s first Island Games experience would be in 1999 where they came away with their first Silver from Gotland, Sweden. But it wouldn’t be their last, in 2001 the Cayman men would take Silver again in Isle of Man; in 2003 the team would once again take Silver in Guernsey and their last Silver medal would be in Gibraltar in 2005.
But for the next five Island Games, the once dominant Cayman squad would not medal. In 2007 Cayman would place 4th in Rhodes Greece; 5th in Aland in 2009; 4th in Isle of Wight in 2011; but did not compete in Bermuda 2013 nor Jersey Island in 2015.
However, ten years after their last medal appearance, Cayman would create history for men’s basketball bringing home their first Gold medal with Coach Edwin Pellot-Rosa at the helm and Coach Duran “Trini” Whittaker as his Assistant Coach.
The National Men’s Head Coach Ed Pellot-Rosa said it has been a great challenge to sharpen the team’s fundamentals and focus.
He said, “They’ve been working on understanding and trusting our natural athletic ability and challenging ourselves to expand our mental capacity and understanding of the game of basketball.”
Coach Ed said, that twenty years seemed like a long and hard journey to travel for Cayman’s first Gold Medal in 2017. But he stated, “that in 2017 a seed was planted and it will be vital that we continue watering that seed as we strive to complete our mission of building and sustaining a winning culture.” He said, “For the 2019 Island Games, the focus will be to continue to build on our confidence and developing a dominant attitude.”
The Technical Director for Basketball Coach Victor “Voot” O’Garro said, “As defending champions, Cayman is expected to perform at a high level despite some changes to the lineup.
“The team this year consists of new faces. Our veterans are there and they are expected to have a great performance as usual. Based on our training schedule, I am confident that we will be on the podium. However, we know that there are top countries coming to face us so we are prepared for
whatever comes our way. I think this is a wonderful tournament as we have been to Gibraltar before where we secured the silver medal and this year we are hoping to come back to Cayman with yet another Gold.”
President of the Cayman Islands Basketball Association, Mr. Richard Parchment said, “After winning the silver medal 4 times, and always feeling the challenge of going back to get that additional win, it feels great to know that the Cayman Islands is the defending Gold Medalist and we are fielding a very strong and capable team to maintain this honor.” Mr. Parchment said, “Government continues to be a major contributor to sports development in these islands and this team is a prime example of this vision as most of the players on the team came from our early development leagues and programs.”
The 2019 Cayman Islands National Men’s team consists of: Samuel O’Garro, De’Andre Simpson, Davion Cotterell, Jake Whittaker; Shaad O’Garro, Arin Taylor; NiiAKwei General-Vanderpouije, along with newcomers Philip Webb, Tikko Moore, Juawon Ebanks, Joshua O’Garro and Kai Robinson-Allard. The 2019 team’s Manager is Angela O’Garro.
All twelve men were selected with a purpose and Coach Ed believes that this Cayman team can go beyond an Island Games Gold medal.
“My message to the team is to seize the opportunity at hand, confidently show Cayman and the Caribbean region that we are prepared to compete for a qualifying spot at future Olympic Games, and ultimately play the game for something greater than self. Understand the responsibility of being a role model and Gold Medalist, as the youth are observing and are eager to continue building on the blocks that were laid in 2017. We desire to be known by the fruit we bear.”
Photo is of 2017 Gold medal team
