T&T's men's basketball team has reportedly withdrawn from the 2010 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, currently being played in Puerto Rico. General Secretary of the National Basketball Federation of T&T (NBFTT), Kelvin Roberts, said the team was withdrawn by the T&T Olympic Committee, since most of the players failed the fitness test.
Discarded point guard Derrick Boxhill and overseas based Joel Haywood were said to be the only ones to have passed the required Beep Test mark of 12.5, with both going beyond 14. The T&T team, with the majority being foreign based, placed tenth despite creating an upset against Puerto Rico, the eventual winners at the just concluded Centrobasket Championships in the Dominican Republic and returned home a week ago.
The squad for the CAC tournament was expected to have more local players as most of the foreign based returned home after the Centrobasket tournament. Meanwhile, it was agreed at an executive meeting on Saturday that Roberts will act as president of the NBFTT, until the annual general meeting on July 31. The board indicated that Brian Manning had resigned as head of the organisation.
Roberts will be required to conduct the affairs of the NBFTT until the federation elects a new president. He is expected to collect a cheque from the Ministry of Sports today to cover all the debts incurred by the two national teams at the Centrobasket tournaments in Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico. Both the local and overseas based players are expected to receive their stipends for the tournament soon after. (KS)