A four-member Saint Lucia team will compete at an inaugural Under-23 3×3 basketball tournament being hosted by the Association of National Olympic Committees of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (ANOCES). The event will take place May 16-17 at the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
The team includes two players with recent international experience, as Saint Lucia seeks to qualify for the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games. The Games will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from July 24 to August 8.
“That’s where the game is going with FIBA,” said Glen Guiste, president of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation. “The U23 World Cup, also CAC games in July, will be in the U23 category. This also gives us an opportunity to qualify for the said CAC Games – the window closes in June. So there’s a lot hinging on this tournament. Apart from a development opportunity for us, it’s also an opportunity to qualify for CAC games for the first time in basketball.”
Team Saint Lucia includes Sidney Didier (Soufriere Kings), a national team member at U23 and senior levels since 2022, and Junior Dupre (Morne Gladiators), both of whom played in last year’s FIBA Caribbean 3×3 events in The Bahamas. Jazaniah Blanchard (Morne Gladiators) and Ajini Ferdinand (Courts Jets) complete the roster.
“It’s just great to see that we have players who are stepping up to the plate, and they’re developing through all the programmes that we run,” added Guiste. “We went to Venezuela a few years ago with a U17 team. We didn’t do too well then. That just shows how development is, and now we have a couple of those players vying for U23 spots nationally.
“So one of the milestones is the growth of the players in the game, and they are on the heels of the more seasoned senior players, who have gone to AmeriCup over the past couple years. So that again shows that the game is in good hands.”
Ranked second behind St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia will also compete with Dominica, Grenada, and St Vincent & the Grenadines in the BVI. The travelling party includes coach Christus Michel, referee Shadrack Theodore and team manager Neil Joseph.
For Michel and Joseph, this clinic is part of FIBA’s effort to equip and train member federations in the region. It aims to help them compete and medal in the 3×3 format of the game on the world stage.
