COCKBURN TOWN (Turks and Caicos) — By inviting international teams to their national tournaments, the Turks and Caicos Islands Basketball Federation (TCIBF) has found an efficient way to raise their local youth basketball level.

That's what they're doing with their annual Mallory McComish tournament for the U-16 and U-20 categories. There, junior high school players in the U-16 category welcomed a guest team from The Bahamas to complete the group of seven squads that participated in the tournament. Meanwhile, in the U-20 version for high school and college students, there were players from all islands comprising the archipelago.

“The Federation has embarked on a plan to invite international teams to our annual tournaments,” said Federation President, Sidwell Glasgow. “Two of the main objectives of hosting camps and tournaments are ensuring that coaches assess their teams and players during these events and identifying talents and skills for elite players and the national team.”

Following that same philosophy, the TCIBF held its traditional Summer Camp in July, and Glasgow stated that it’s a “fundamental part of (the Federation’s) activities calendar.” Around 50 boys and girls of ages 8 to 16 and from all islands received basic training by local coaches in fundamental basketball aspects, under the premise of “practice-play-practice.” This is a grassroots program that will follow-up with the camp’s participants.

But this isn't the end of it. The Federation’s leader previewed several initiatives that the organization will continue to develop and will be implemented in the upcoming months.

One of the outstanding initiatives is an afterschool program that’ll start in September and impact children ages 8 to 17. Likewise, the National High School League will begin their tournament in October, and a Level 1 Coaching certification course and other 3x3 competitions will take place, said Glasgow.

“The TCIBF continues to work strenuously to develop basketball in all levels in the islands,” he assured. “The growth and development of the game may be witnessed in the number of activities around the islands that we've held in the past six months.”

FIBA