CHANCE FOR JABA PRESIDENT TO PROVE HIMSELF

Congratulations to Ajani Williams for successfully retaining his presidency of the Jamaica Basketball Association on the weekend. There were periods in the run-up to the voting last weekend in Ocho Rios when it seemed as if Captain Clifton Lumsden had gained the ascendancy as word began to spread about Williams’s failings as president.

Chief among the complaints was that he did not listen to the concerns from the different conferences and that he did little if anything for women’s basketball. Williams has accepted those criticisms saying that his first term was a learning experience and vowed that he would make the effort to do things different should he be re-elected. With regards to women’s basketball, he also concedes that he had not done enough. During a television interview just days before the election, he suggested that there wasnt not enough money to go around and that played a large part in why there was little or no support for women’s basketball.

The situation, I believe, was similar to a man having enough money to barely build a house but was being expected to build two. He makes the decision to complete one house first and then worry about building the other later. One complete house is certainly better than two unfinished ones. There are those who will disagree but when you face the reality that before Williams, there was little money coming in to the coffers of the JaBA. In fact, the National Basketball League was virtually a token league played by teams in and around the Corporate Area. Under Williams, the league was expanded islandwide – giving it broader appeal and as a result in the first year he managed to secure more than $8 million in sponsorship for the league. Under the deal, the teams were even afforded gear, something that had never happened before. More importantly, the were afforded exposure through deals struck with Sportsmaxx and Flow. The partnerships were an uncomfortable one for the most part. Some of the sponsors were not happy with Williams’ way of doing things and it may have cost him.

The protracted delay of the start of this current season of the NBL was due mainly to Williams’ trying to secure sponsorships/partnerships to replace the ones he lost last season. It took time. One month became two; two became three but then finally in February it was announced that the JaBA was rolling out the NBL with $16 million worth of sponsorship and several media partners to boot. Outside of football that $16 million would represent the highest sponsorship ever secured by any other sport in this country.

Many might not like the way Williams does things but at least he gets some measure of results and that’s what management is all about – results. With the sponsorship secured he now has to fulfill his mandate of doing more to develop the sport, especially on the women’s side of things to demonstrate that he is not all talk.

Vice president, newly elected Vice President Oberon Pitterson, who will be responsible for the development of the sport in this current administration has said that she wants to roll out a comprehensive programme that will include introducing the sport to more girls at the high school level. This, she feels, will help raise the interest of young females in the sport.

Pitterson, who has benefitted from a basketball scholarship, knows first hand how important it is to afford young women the opportunity to get a chance at higher education by taking on an unfamiliar sport. Pitterson is a former national representative of Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls, the fourth-ranked netball team in the world, but it was basketball that allowed her to get her college degree. So, on the face of it it seems Williams is already fulfilling his mandate with regards to the development of women’s basketball. So now its a case of wait and see.

What his detractors have also failed to acknowledge is that under Williams leadership the sport has enjoyed more visibility than ever before. Conversations about basketball – the fastest growing sport here in Jamaica – now account for a good portion of many sports programmes. And with athletes like Jamaican Samardo Samuels now doing well for an albeit struggling Cleveland Cavaliers is managing to convince many Jamaican kids that basketball presents yet another chance for them to make something of their lives; track and field and football are not the only ways out of poverty.

Now that he has been re-elected, Williams has to now get things done and get them done relatively quickly. He gets another lease to complete his mission but he needs to be aware that the spotlight is now squarely on his and his team. Crunch time is here.