Trinidad may pull out of CARICOM basketball

There is bad news for basketball fans as reports out of Trinidad and Tobago indicate that the T & T national basketball team has decided to withdraw from the CARICOM championships to be held next month here in Belize. According to a story carried last night on Caribbean News Line, the vice president of Trinidad’s National Basketball Federation says that his team is well short of raising the thirty four thousand U.S. dollars to make the trip and will have to drop out. If true this would be a major blow to the tournament as the Trinidadians finished second to Jamaica in last year’s competition and were expected to do well again this time around. But all may not be lost. According to B.N.B.A. secretary Dawn Leslie, she has received no word on the withdrawal of the Trinis, and while she is aware of the team’s financial problems it is expected that their government will help them make up the shortfall. In related news Belizean hopefuls Kirk Smith and Keith Acosta have arrived home from the U.S. and Olin Simpliss is expected to arrive tomorrow. Final tryouts for the Belize national team will begin on Tuesday night at City Centre under the direction of coach David Greenwood. If all goes well they will be practicing on a new court scheduled to be laid down over the weekend.