The Home Of Basketball in The Cayman Islands
The Home Of Basketball in The Cayman Islands
Today, Sunday July 7th, Action Starts for Cayman basketball when the Women take on their rivals, Gibraltar at 10:15 AM Cayman Time.
Then Cayman’s National Men’s team take on Isle of Wight at 12:30 pm Cayman Time. The National Men are expected to easily win this game as the IOW has never defeated the Cayman team in the tournament’s existence.
To watch the Games live please visit: https://www.facebook.com/GibraltarBasket/
Cayman’s National Men and Women’s Teams are off to the Island Games! After months of preparation, Cayman’s best are ready to lay it all on the court as they compete for basketball prowess. To keep up with the teams click Here
Cayman Islands National U19 Basketball player Justin Collins has received and accepted a Basketball Scholarship to attend NCAA Division II Cal State LA University located in Los Angeles.
Collins, a 6-foot, 2-inch guard, was named the Heritage League Most Valuable Player of the year as a senior as well as numerous awards throughout his career in Santa Clarita Christian High School in California and he helped lead the team to a state championship as a junior.
Justin was coached by Head Coach James Mosley and started at the guard position for 4 years.
The Bodden Town native announced his decision to attend California State University on social media.
Cal State LA’s head coach is Jim Saia, formerly head coach at Cal State San Marcos and Fresno Pacific.
Saia has 14 years of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level, including seven years as the top assistant coach at UCLA and one year at USC, where he served as the interim head coach for most of the season.
Saia has helped more than 17 players onto rosters of National Basketball Association teams, including Baron Davis, Dan Gadzuric, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, Nick Young and Matt Barnes.
There is excitement around the upcoming Youth Basketball Tournament which will showcase Cayman’s local youth talent. The tournament takes place during July 18-20 and will feature boys and girls teams. All four countries will be represented in the boys category and Cayman vs Port Arthur will have a 3 game series in the Girls Category.
Pastor Wanda Bodden – Founder of Bringing Back the Glory Tournaments – had a vision 3 years ago to give children of Port Arthur Texas, who had been devastated by hurricane Harvey, an opportunity to get international exposure and a glimmer of hope despite their current circumstances. She then reached out to the CI Basketball Association & Department of Sports about having a tournament with Cayman, given Port Arthur’s rich history with Caymanians who had settled and started families in Port Arthur many decades ago.
Despite a few challenges, this dream has now become a reality. Cayman will get to showcase some of its high school talent, many of whom will be performing on home soil for the first time; Port Arthur, a city of 50,000 people, will live up to its reputation of athletic prowess, and now with the additions of Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago, it has turned out to be quite a tournament indeed.
Tournament schedule will be released soon.
Cayman’s National Basketball Women Hope To Repeat History At The 2019 Island Games!
The Cayman Islands National Women’s Basketball team is no stranger to hardware at the NATWEST Island Games!
The very first three years of the Cayman women competing at the Island Games was a huge success with the women winning 3 medals under the guidance of the Technical Director for Cayman Islands Basketball Association and then Head Coach Victor “Voot” O’Garro.
The Cayman Islands made an enormous impression when they won Gold in the Isle of Man for their very first tournament appearance in 2001; Bronze in Guernsey 2003 and Gold in Shetland Isles/Gibraltar 2005.
But it would be 2007 Rhodes, Greece where Cayman placed 8th that would put a damper on the women competing at the prestigious games going forward. The women did not compete in 2009 through 2013, but would try their hearts at it once again at the all too familiar tournament held in Jersey, Island the year of 2015 where Cayman placed 5th. In 2017 in Gotland, Sweden, the women would get close to the podium as they faced Guernsey for the Bronze medal match. Guernsey however, proved too experienced for the young Cayman squad and took away the triplet island’s only chances of bringing home hardware.
President of the Cayman Islands Basketball Association Mr. Richard Parchment said, “This Cayman National Women’s team has history to repeat as medal contenders. Watching their men counterpart in 2017 finally pull off what they have done twice in the past has reignited this team, so July in Gibraltar should be an exciting time for Cayman basketball.”
The Technical Director for Basketball Coach Victor “Voot” O’Garro said, the women’s team is in a rebuilding stage but he knows that they’ll get there soon. “Our women are in preparation right now to regain their rightful place on the podium. They have not been on that podium since 2005. However, last year the team placed 4th just missing medal contention. We look forward to the ladies doing an extremely good job this year in Gibraltar.”
This year 2019, the National women’s team consists of Courtisha Ebanks, Hannah Parchment, Scimone Campbell, Khailan O’Connor, Michal Segal, Dionne Anglin, Yolanni Manzanares, Alicia Turner, Melissa Bridgemohan, Stacy-Ann Kelly, Chloe Powery-Doxey and Neandra Forbes.
The 2019 Women’s Coaches are Wendy Manzanares and Cory McGee. The team’s Manager is Melissa Smith.
Coach Wendy Manzanares is very excited to see things coming together with the women’s team as preparation continues. She said, “The last time the women’s team was on the podium at the Island Games was 2005 with Gold. We did not compete in 2009, 2011 or 2013 and in 2017 we placed 4th so now our team is at a stage of rebuilding and is expecting to regain our place on the podium in the near future. The journey is the most important thing and we are definitely aiming to leave a mark.”
Background info on tournament
The NatWest Island Games is held every two years and is an international multi-sports event with Competitor teams representing different island communities with no more than 150,000 people….A mini-Olympics if you must. The 18th annual games will be held in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar between July 6th and 12th 2019.
-Controversially, the games will not include cycling, football, or Indoor Volleyball which have been in all previous games since 1985, due to the lack of venues, instead replaced by tenpin bowling, judo, and squash.
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
Hailing from the Cayman Islands, Kai Robinson is a local product making his mark in the U.S. at the High School level. Slotted in for graduation in 2020, this 6’1 combo guard initially made his footprint at Vanguard High School in Lake Wales, Florida where he most recently averaged 17.3 points, 5.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds during his sophomore year campaign.
Kai is now showcasing his talents at Wilbraham & Monson Academy (“WMA”), a prep School in Wilbraham, Pennsylvania. WMA prepares student athletes for the next level both on and off the court, with recent graduates moving on to the likes of the University of Kentucky, Indiana University and the University of Connecticut, all renowned Division 1 (“D-1”) basketball powerhouses.
From the WMA basketball website: “Many others are competing at other competitive basketball programs. Our player development and conditioning routines, practice and game preparation, and emphasis on shaping high-performing student-athletes make us one of the top basketball programs in the United States.”
Although just commencing his junior year, Kai has already earned numerous accolades including unofficial visits to top D-1 programs. He is committed to playing at the next level, with Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina being his dream school of choice.
Stamped as a top prospect within the Class of 2020, Kai recently participated in the Elite 75 Showcase, a summer time tournament featuring top college prospects from all over the U.S.
As part of recap from the Elite 75 Showcase, experts had the following to say:
“Kai Robinson, Wilbraham & Monson – Robinson started to make a name for himself Saturday by showing the skills and presence of a true point guard. He was constantly communicating, showing a high I.Q., tight handle, and very smooth jumper.”
Kai was introduced to basketball at age 8 through the Cayman Islands Basketball Association (“CIBA”), a nonprofit governing body for basketball in the Cayman Islands. It was “love at first sight” as they say, and Kai has not looked back.
CIBA facilitates the development of Cayman’s youth through its leagues, ongoing programs and clinics offered throughout the year. CIBA’s objectives are as follows:
Led by Technical Director Coach Victor “Voot” O’Garro, CIBA provides Cayman’s youth access to basketball at a young age beginning with the CIBA Basketball Academy offered to 7 – 9 year olds. Aside from the Academy, locally sponsored leagues are offered to players giving youth the opportunity to display and master the foundational skills learned at the Academy within a competitive team environment.
These leagues would not be possible without local sponsors, KPMG sponsoring the Under 14 Boys and Girls Leagues and PwC sponsoring the Under 16 Boys and Girls Leagues.
CIBA has been the guiding path in sending close to 20 local Cayman youths on to prep schools in the U.S. over the past few years, with one local product Jorge Ebanks now playing professionally in Europe. Furthermore, the Cayman Islands National Men’s Basketball team won the gold medal at the most recent Island Games.
With the second inaugural Cayman Islands Classic Basketball tournament (featuring top D-1 programs from the U.S.) wrapping up recently, perhaps it is just a matter of short time that we see one of Cayman’s very own showcasing their talents in this annual tournament.
For more information on CIBA, including the CIBA program offerings along with sponsorship opportunities, visit the CIBA website at: https://caymanbasketball.com/
Follow our Cayman National Men’s and Women’s teams as they chase medals at this year’s Nat West Islands Games in Gotland.
Men’s League Schedule: http://islandgames2017results.com/schedule.aspx?SportID=4&EventID=79
Women’s League Schedule: http://islandgames2017results.com/schedule.aspx?SportID=4&EventID=80
Men’s Group Standings (GROUP C): http://islandgames2017results.com/Sports/BASKETBALL/default.aspx?SportID=4&EventID=79
Women’s Group Standings (GROUP A): http://islandgames2017results.com/Sports/BASKETBALL/default.aspx?SportID=4&EventID=80
The 2016 finals runner up, Dream, took on the new league sensation, the Islanders on May 7th at the Clifton Hunter High School Gym.
This year’s Islanders team has definitely 10X’ed their performance compared to last year, with additions such as Scimone Campbell, Jennifer Cottarelo-Choice, Krystle Barrett, Renee Thompson and Christsania Parker. The game was fast and furious, seeing lead change after lead change and big play after big play. But in the 4th quarter, Eve Lunn turned on the heat and made the Islanders pay for leaving her open on the 3-point line, hitting four huge baskets from behind the arc and putting the Dream out front.
