Jamaica’s Women’s basketball team received a welcome cash boost on Saturday as they continue preparations for the Caribbean Basketball Championship set to tip off in Cuba on July 13.
P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy’s founder and CEO Wayne Dawkins presented a cheque for JMD$100,000 to the members of the team during the academy’s player draft for the Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball Summer League at Ribbiz Sports Bar in Kingston on Saturday.
P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy was founded in 1993 by former basketball player Wayne Dawkins in Canada and for the past 25 years has been organizing and hosting basketball leagues and tournaments in Canada, the USA and Africa that have contributed to the global growth of the sport.
“P.H.A.S.E 1 is committed to equity in basketball and it is our intention to support the growth of basketball on the women's side. This donation is just the beginning of us working to bring more resources in and more support for the women's national team,” said Dawkins said while highlighting the consistent struggles of the Jamaica Basketball Association to raise funds for the sport and especially the women’s teams.
“Globally, women's basketball teams are not as supported as the men's teams and we are doing what we can to change that.
“We have a women's semi-professional team in Phoenix, Arizona, they are called the Lady Elite 1s, and we are looking to bring them here to help raise the level of women's basketball in Jamaica and draw more attention to their needs.”
Meanwhile, JABA President Paulton Gordon said the association is finalizing arrangements for the team to travel to Cuba for the tournament.
“The women are participating in the Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) from July 13-17 and we are now in the process of trying to finalize,” Gordon said.
“We had some difficulties as it relates to airfares, as usual. There was some uncertainty as to whether the tournament would have been postponed and then we missed some opportunities to book them directly to Cuba so now we are trying to route them through either Panama or Miami.”
He added that the association has reached out to government agencies and he is hopeful that they will provide the needed support.”