Rose Hill, St. Patrick; Sun., Feb. 13, 2011 — The Tillman Thomas Basketball Competition got off to a well-attended start last night at the Rose Hill Basketball Court. Over five hundred persons were present at the launch of the tournament at the recently opened facility in St. Patrick on Sunday night.

The competition, organized by the St. Patrick’s Organization for Development (SPOD) and sponsored by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, forms part of the preliminary activities leading up to the 25th Anniversary of St. Patrick’s Day Fiesta, which is expected to begin officially from Saturday March 19 and continues until Sunday March 27.

The event was also attended by Minister Joseph Gilbert, MP for St. Patrick West and Minister Alleyne Walker, MP for St. Andrew North West.

Addressing the large crowd, PM Thomas, who is also Parliamentary Representative for St. Patrick East, which is inclusive of Rose Hill, commended the members of SPOD on their community development efforts and encouraged the players and the community to make Rose Hill the northern home of basketball in Grenada.

PM Thomas asked the large crowd gathered to realize the positive potential of sports in the lives of our youths and in the development of our state. “As Kirani James and others have has proven, through sports one can obtain scholarships and go on to represent and promote Grenada,” said PM Thomas.

PM Thomas also thanked local businessman Fred Belfon and members of the Indian business community in St. George and St. Andrew for their donations toward the competition.

Chairman of SPOD, Devon Charles, told the players that sports will continue to play a very integral part in their development and that they should use competitions like the instant one to build bridges of long lasting friendship.

Two games were fixed for the opening night. In the first game, Flow Ballers of St. Andrew’s defeated Trojans of St. Mark’s 56 – 23, while the game between Road Side Shooters of Rose Hill and Sallee Sixers was cancelled due to rain

The pre-game program on Sunday included input from Clifton Paul, President of Rose Hill Sports & Culture Club, who presided as master of ceremony; young Anisha Julien, who sang the national anthem; basketballer Kelvin Phillip, who presented the Players’ Oath; Victor Phillip who recited the Oath of the Officiating Staff; and Wendy Hall of SPOD, who gave the vote of thanks.

The Tillman Thomas Basketball Competition will be played in two zones with a play-off among the top four teams. Cash prizes and trophies are at stake in the competition.

The next fixture will be on Thursday 17 with Defenders taking on Ballers, while Black Mambas will meet team Marquis.