GUATEMALA CITY (Guatemala) — Guatemala is organized into 22 departments. For the Guatemala National Basketball Federation (FNBG, for its Spanish acronym) it’s essential that basketball isn’t solely focused on the capital, but rather that it’s taken to each one of these areas. Preparing players is one of the pillars of the Federation, and yet since the year 2013, the Maxibasketball Tournament takes place each year and is now on its thirteenth edition.

The FNGB works through the Liga Nacional in all categories in a home and away format for the U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 categories up to the competitive U23, Second Division, First and Maxibasketball — played by men of over 40 and women of over 36.

After three competition days in the southwest city of Retalhuleu, the teams from Huehuetenango achieved the tournament's first place. For the women's team, it was a great accomplishment after 12 editions.

"The Federation's intention, besides developing the youth's talents and popularizing the sport, is to foster inclusion for both sexes and all categories, raging the smaller players of 8 and 10 years of age so that they can participate in federative tournaments, as well as for the players that have brought glory to our national basketball. The idea is for everyone to continue to participate in a basketball tournament and for no one to have to give it up,” stated Dennys Ordóñez, FNBG communications director since 2013 to FIBA.basketball.

 
The round-robin tournament started in February 2019 with two groups. There were 11 men’s teams and 8 men’s teams seeking to qualify to the national Final Four. For the men it was Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Escuintla, and Retalhuleu; for the women, it was Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala and Quetzaltenango playing on July 26, 27 and 28.

A National Basketball Commission has been established for Maxibasketball, in which four people that are part of the teams are able to make logistic decisions for the category and organize the tournament with the Federation.

Huehuetenango’s men and women were able to achieve three consecutive victories in this format. The men overcame Escuintla, 66-53, the first day; then Retalhuleu, 73-53; and lastly, Guatemala 62-59.

As for the women, the first day they defeated Guatemala, 54-50; then achieved a victory against Quetzaltenango, 59-50; and finally, defeated Alta Verapaz in the game that decided the gold, 54-44.

The tournament's outstanding player, with an average of 30 points per game, was Blanca Amado, also known as Chochi to the Guatemala basketball universe.

 
Chochi has been Guatemala's senior team MVP on several occasions and has achieved four personal accolades — greatest scorer, MVP, greatest rebound and best interceptor.

“Thank God in my athletic career I've been able to attain these titles. I've fought for the championships and after I've got them the individual recognitions have arrived as an extra prize,” said the player who also played for leagues in Argentina, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

“I liked the experience very much. It's the first time that I'm playing in this Maxi championship. They invited me and it caught my eye. I know a lot of the players. It's a very competitive tournament, maybe more than I imagined. I got in after the two first games. We came in second in our region and qualified to the Final Four,” she said to FIBA.basketball.

Guatemala was chosen in 2019 to host the U-16 Central American Championships and achieved the gold medal in the women's category and a fourth-place with the men. With constant work, the FNBG continues to work under their slogan “We aim for more” and organizes local and international tournaments.

“One of the positive things that the tournament has left us is that each of the 22 Guatemalan provinces has the right to have a team and bring joy to their province, to the municipality of the team that's participating. The fact that a department can travel and visit another means also that there’s a sports movement during the entire year and that helps our people to come together. People that have some income enroll in teams and, in one way or another, support the Associations that are developing in the formative categories,” pointed out Ordóñez.

The FNBG base their work on four pillars upon which they focus and work daily to foster the development of basketball in their nation. Formative categories, national teams, and even Maxibasketball, for men and women — they all seek to strengthen this sport in the Central American country and grant new opportunities for the fans of the sport.

FIBA