SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) - In the last 5 editions of the Centrobasket U17 Championship, the Virgin Island team has collected three medals, none of them gold. Now in its 2019 version, the combined bet on a balanced team that is determined to reach the maximum step of the podium.

Under the leadership of the experienced leader Jareem Dowling, who has been working with the junior program of the Federation since 2007, the Caribbean team hopes to improve its fourth place in the 2017 edition of the contest, as well as its two bronze medals in 2009 and 2011 and the 2015 silver.

"It's a well-balanced team, hopefully, it was deeper, but we have enough pieces and it's allowing us to lead them," Dowling told FIBA. basketball before one of his first-round matches. "We want to improve every game, compete for every game, have the opportunity to compete for a medal."

Although they had little preparation for the tournament, Virgin Islands has presented an extremely competitive team as they demonstrated in their first outing where they dominated the El Salvador National Team 90-62. The copious scorer Jahsean Corbett, the versatile Jahmai Jones, and the energetic forward Amayoa'ah Phillips stand out on the squad.

For his part, the leader Dowling native of Santa Cruz, has experience in the NCAA of the United States as an assistant in programs such as North Texas and Southern Miss, and admitted that getting the elusive golden presents motivates him, but beyond that he wishes to continue developing the national program through its international experience.

“It is a motivation, absolutely. We are happy with our success but we are not satisfied and we want to improve every year, ”said Dowling.

“I learn a lot from all the great coaches I work with every day. The things that I learn throughout the year I try to take and teach to our leaders and players to expand the education of basketball in the Virgin Islands, ”he added.

For the coach, the Virgin Islands and its authorities need to continue investing in their teams to not only be able to compete internationally but to continue raising young people on the positive path through basketball.

 "Government support is always good when you try to build a future for young people," Dowling said. "With that said, if we get more money from the government and more coaches involved, we have a good chance to raise those children the right way with the basketball game."

He also noted that work is needed in the area of ​​infrastructure to create greater interest in more sectors and encourage long-term development.

“I think [young people] are interested in playing, they just need more facilities to do it. Once they have more facilities we will have more development of the game so that our young people are successful, ”he concluded.

FIBA