British Virgin Islands, 'saving the seed' through basketball

TORTOLA (British Virgin Islands) - The Basketball League Hon. Julian Frazer of the British Virgin Islands stands out as one of the pillars for the development of basketball in the islands. The organization that exists since 2013, aims to develop sports as a family activity at the national level, offering a tournament with high quality standards and social values.

The competition has categories for senior players and juniors, the latter in ages from 13 to 16 in both men and women that will run from August to November.

All matches will be held at Tortola's "Save the Energy Center".

"Respect yourself, respect the fans, respect the game" is the league mantra that had to be suspended in 2017, after the destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

On the other hand, the annual K & J 3x3 Tournament is one of the most recent and interesting initiatives to keep basketball running on the islands. Founded by two former national players, Kennedy Bass and Jason Edwin, the tournament includes the categories Open, U13, U15, U18 and a special category for players over 40 years. Bass, a native of Tortola, was part of the national team of BVI 2007-2015, always standing out as one of the best scorers. For his part, Edwin, a native of San Thomas, represented the Virgin Islands (American) for a decade (2004-2014) and achieved a CBC Championship in 2011.

At the school level, another development initiative is the Martin Luther King Jr. Games, which offer workshops to children from 9 to 16. Likewise, a pair of IVB high school teams were invited to events of the Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) in Orlando, Florida where they won the championship, proving that they have the level to compete internationally.

The territory of the British Virgin Islands is part of a volcanic archipelago that is made up of 4 main islands and other almost 50 smaller ones, including the capital Tórtola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. The estimated population is 28,000 inhabitants.

FIBA