Roseau, Dominica – Basketball ambassadors from around the world, including recognizable names such as former NBA players Yao Ming and Vlade Divac, are currently in Hong Kong, China for the Mid-term FIBA [International Basketball Federation] Congress.
Secretary General of the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association, Martin Dyer, is also in attendance, and is optimistic that his presence will mean more progress for the sport of basketball in Dominica.
“I’m hoping to do a lot of networking, there are a lot of high-ranking FIBA officials and there are also a lot from the Caribbean. I’m hoping to network with Windward Islands to see how we can get some Windward Islands games going and also to network with CBC [the Caribbean Basketball Confederation],” Dyer expressed.
“I am also hoping to speak with Mr. Kotleba [Lubomir Kotleba, Advisor to the Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)] who did the FIBA assessment of Dominica in January. FIBA plans to do a report on that assessment which will be heard during the congress.”
Dyer indicated that there will be four workshops during the congress and a session for the general body.
“One of the workshops that we did was 3-on-3 basketball. I spoke with the 3-on-3 Director, Mr Alex Sanchez, and I spoke to him about having a seminar in Dominica concerning 3-on-3 so we can get different people involved in it so they can have a better idea as to how to go about it. Maybe he or one of his colleagues could come to Dominica to help organize it and run it and get our hands dirty more or less.”
Dyer is also hoping to have consultations concerning coaches courses and referee courses and even acquiring equipment for basketballers.
The FIBA Congress is the supreme authority of FIBA and comprises all National Member Federations of FIBA, each receiving equal voting rights.
The Congress functions according to a four-year cycle, corresponding to the term of office of the FIBA President, the FIBA Central Board and the FIBA Commissions. This cycle begins and ends with the Elective FIBA Congress, while two years after each Elective FIBA Congress, midway through the cycle, a Mid-term FIBA Congress is held.
The Mid-term Congress has the powers to:
-Adopt and modify the General Statutes of FIBA
-Examine and approve all reports
-Ratify the decisions of the Central Board regarding the suspension of National Member Federations
-Decide on the expulsion of members of FIBA
-Examine and adopt proposals by the Secretary General, the Central Board and National Member Federations
-Upon proposal by the FIBA Central Board, grant the title of Honorary President, Honorary Member and Secretary General Emeritus
The two-day session will end on Friday May 5th, 2017.
Get proper facilities in place in Dominica first before splashing out on expensive junkets like these. Once again we are putting the cart before the horse. No offence intended but thtruth must be told if we want to make real progress.