Americas statisticians gear up for New Competition System with instructor workshop during 2016 South American Championship

BARQUISIMETO (Americas) - FIBA's new competition system is ushering in a new era in basketball. From 2017 onwards 1,680 top players will compete in 1,200 national team games around the world.

This number of regular national team games is unprecedented. In preparation for this undertaking, the Americas office conducted a FIBA statistician instructor workshop during the 2016 South American Women's Championship currently taking place in Barquisimeto.

The workshop ran over May 20-21. Matias Suhurt (Argentina), Mauricio Segura (Chile), Enrique Cordova (Puerto Rico), Edgard Marin Jr. (Puerto Rico), Marcelo Gallichio (Uruguay) and Alexander Calatayud (Venezuela) were invited to become inaugural FIBA licensed statistician instructors. The workshop was instructed by Edgard Marin Sr.

All national team games require FIBA licensed statisticians. These instructors will join many others around the world in preparing statisticians for the upcoming change in the international competitions calendar.

"This New Competition System presents an exciting challenge for statisticians around the continent," said Marin. "Stats people will be essential to this process in which there will be more games and something for us to work towards. It is a big motivation for all of us to be on the same page and in constant communication.”

"This workshop is a first step and one that will now produce more licensed statisticians around the Americas given the fact that now these instructors have to go back and teach in their countries," added Marin. "I am very excited about having started the process and for what the future will bring to statisticians in FIBA competitions."

The workshop involved discussing situational interpretations and how these will be applied globally to create consistency throughout all FIBA national team competitions.

The participants also laid the foundation of how future FIBA statistician licensing workshops will be conducted under the new competition system.

With 16 teams looking to compete in Division A of the now competition system, these participants will be integral in transferring their knowledge to other within their respective federations.

FIBA's new competition system not only creates a greater number of national team games but it also means a major boost in the sports exposure around the world.

The workshop was one of many initiatives FIBA is conducting worldwide to fully prepare for the inception of the new competition system beginning in 2017.

FIBA