The Sentence Planning Team at Her Majesty’s Prison was pleased to host its sixth annual basketball tournament from June 20 – 22 2018 at HM Prison, between the in-house team HMP Royale and a team representing the Anguilla Amateur Basketball Association (AABA).
An official opening ceremony preceded the tournament. It consisted of brief remarks from His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Tim Foy; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, Dr. Bonnie Richardson Lake; the Superintendent of Prisons, Ms. Carice Sasso; Director of Sports, Mr. Andre Collin; and Ms. Avon Carty from the Department of Youth and Culture. All of the speakers spoke highly of the fact that such a tournament was happening – emphasizing what it meant for the players and the opportunity it provided the inmates to enhance not only their game skills but, more importantly, their personal and social skills channeling their energies into something productive and positive. The Superintendent in her remarks highly commended Officer Jennifer Cordice, the organizer of the tournament, for her dedication and hard work in ensuring that the tournament became a reality despite the setbacks of Hurricane Irma. She also noted the high quality and standards of the games.
His Excellency the Governor threw the opening ball after which the tournament was declared open.
The tournament consisted of three games which were keenly contested, followed by a three point shootout competition. The AABA Team won the two first games with scores of 87 to 77 and 66 to 58, thus making them the AABA the 2018 Champions. The third game was a friendly All Star game. Special awards went to Jaleel Scarborough for the Most Rebounds, the Most Assists and the MVP. Romein Browne received the award for the Most Points overall, while Tafari Smith received the award for the Most Blocks. For the first time the AABA, represented by Delano Mussington, won the three-point shootout competition. Referee Mr Carl Thomas has presided over the games from the commencement of the tournaments and, as usual, he did an excellent job. Also worthy of commendation for their support are The Anguilla Red Cross and Lydia Dascent who were on hand to provide any First Aid assistance.
Key to the success of the tournament this year in particular was the generous and much needed sponsorship that HMP received, with the Department of Youth and Culture leading the way assisted by the Governor’s Office, as well as the faithful annual sponsors, as follows: The Department of Sports, Tackle Box, Apex Utilities, Tropical Distributors, Keene Enterprises, Pham A’alma Sea Food Company, Prestige, CAN Engineering, Epic Foods, Ken’s B.B.Q, and Tropical Treats, who again provided a complimentary special ice cream treat to all the players, spectators and staff on the grounds at the conclusion of the finals of this tournament, now a highly anticipated delight. Several representatives of the sponsoring businesses were present for the opening ceremony as well as returning to spectate throughout the three day tournament.
Speaking on behalf of the Department of Sports following the games, Delano Mussington said, “This year the prison basketball tournament makes six years since it has been running. The Department of Sports has continued to support this initiative as they believe it is good rehabilitation for the inmates, and because of the fact that sports can improve the quality of life for individuals. The players that represented the AABA were eager to participate since it was their first time and they had heard how exciting the tournament was in previous years. All three games were competitive. Unfortunately the prison team lost both games by a slim margin. On the final day there was an all-star game where both teams were mixed which proved also to be a very exciting game.”
Recreational Officer Jennifer Cordice in commenting on the games, said that she was heartened that HMP were able to pull off the tournament this year after having suffered so much damage to the court following the passage of Hurricane Irma. She said she was extremely grateful to the sponsors, who despite their own setbacks by the hurricane stepped up and assisted so well. Despite HMP Royale’s loss to the AABA Team, the games were highly competitive and lots of fun for both the players and the spectators.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
