Digicel on board with Hon Fraser Save the Seed B’Ball League
Digicel’s generous donation will include covering the cost of the 2014 Championship team rings which will be awarded to the team next year at the opening ceremony of the new 2015 season which is expected to start in August.
“Digicel BVI is proud to be the platinum telecom sponsor of the Hon. Julian Fraser Save the Seed Basketball League. Seeing the value of this and similar programmes in the BVI community and the impact they have on the younger generations, it pleases us to be able to assist and encourage these programmes to continue. We look forward to an exciting League in 2015 as well,” said Digicel’s Marketing & Public Relations Executive Jasmine A. Perez.
It is the first time in the League’s history that it will be awarding rings to the championship team. The Hon Julian Fraser Save the Seed National Basketball League is in its second year. The games are played at the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff’s Bottom on the main Island of Tortola.
The Basketball League was founded by Hon Julian Fraser RA, a veteran Legislator, Representative of the Third District and Chairman of the Virgin Islands Party and Bishop John I. Cline Senior Pastor of the New Life Baptist Church in Duff’s Bottom and founder of the Save the Seed Energy Centre.
In a comment to this news site today October 29, 2014, Hon Fraser commended Digicel for coming on board with its platinum sponsorship of the series.
However, he said that Digicel’s involvement in the League is nothing new. “But this year it is particularly significant because it is basically for a specific promotional purpose which is the League steeping into another realm by offering championship rings to the champion team,” he said.
“And I think that the teams are well deserving of it because this year was hard fought. We had 17 teams in the League and with that many teams it means that the winning team had to fight that much harder in order to make it to the championship,” he said.
Commenting on the upcoming finals, he said the games of the playoffs are a true indication of what the championships are going to be like. “I am looking forward to some great games,” said Hon Fraser.
About Digicel
Digicel Group is a leading global communications provider with operations in 33 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. After 13 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the presenting partner of the Caribbean Premier League. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.
Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.
Championship games: Bayside Blazers vs Knights
The final games in the Hon. Julian Fraser Save the Seed National Basketball League will tip off this weekend [October 31- November 2] with the high flying Bayside Blazers going up against the Knights.
Both teams were victorious in their division finals with Knights knocking out the 2013 League Champion Ruff House in a 2- nil sweep. However, Bayside Blazers who went into round 2 as the underdogs up against Da 3rd and their big draft pick Ray D. Victor, had to go the full length with 3 games.
The Bayside Blazers lost the first game to Da 3rd 65- 56 on October 24, 2014.
However, on October 25, 2014 the Bayside Blazers came to win and do a job and stopped Da 3rd like a bulldozer in game 2 on Saturday taking the victory 70 – 64.
In the final of three games on October 26, 2014 with a 1-1 tie, Bayside Blazers struggled but defeated Da 3rd 84-74 to take the Western Division Champions. They now face the Eastern Division Champions Knights to determine who will be the overall Champions for 2014 League.
Speaking with this news site today October 29, 2014, Assistant Coach of the Bayside Blazers Jason A. Edwin said that the team is going to be continuing with its same game plan which has brought it to the finals.
“Our strategy is the same strategy from day one…we are not going to change it. It is one game at a time; best out of three series and we know now that basically going into this game now if we fall short all our work that we have done before would go to waste,” he said.
“So we will approach it with a mindset that the job is not finished; we finished a very emotional and physically draining series with Da 3rd and a lot of teams sometimes get satisfied when they overcome a series like that. But we are starting back from zero and we will follow this game plan that got us here thus far,” he said.
However Coach for Knights Verne W. Turnbull is confident that his team will defeat the Bayside Blazers in two straight games.
“I feel so confident brother. It is no secret, the Bayside Blazers [are] no threat to me no way whatsoever. I feel so confident. I have been coaching at a higher level, at the level of the Basketball Federation. So the level compared to what I coach, them guys level ain’t to my level. They can’t beat me…I know the formula,” he said.
Asked whether he sees the championship being over in two games, he jokingly said, “I think it could end in one game!”
Schedule for final/Championship Games:
Friday, October 31, 2014
7:00 pm All Girls Exhibition Game
8:30 pm Bayside Blazers vs Knights
Saturday, November 1, 2014
7:00 pm ESHS Rams-Male in Exhibition Game
8:30 pm Knights vs Bayside Blazers
If necessary closing ceremony immediately after game
Sunday, November 2, 2014
7:00 pm Bayside Blazers vs Knights [if necessary]
If final game is played closing ceremony immediately after game
The Hon Julian Fraser Save the Seed National Basketball League is sponsored by; NAGICO Insurances and Digicel (BVI) Ltd, (both platinum sponsors), The Hon. Julian Fraser RA, Bishop John I. Cline and the Save the Seed Energy Centre, Ogier, International Motors, The Ministry of Education and Culture, National Bank of the Virgin Islands, Caribbean Insurers Ltd., D & B Heavy Equipment Services, Burke’s Garage Ltd., Nanny Cay Hotel and Marina, and CIBC First Caribbean International Bank.
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23 Responses to “Digicel on board with Hon Fraser Save the Seed B’Ball League”
No discipline at all with grown men acting like babies.
Bishop Cline must have no idea what's going on or needs the money badly.
Now talk about that!
You talking about people having fun? What laughing at other people's stupidness? That's just what it is. I strongly believe if the Bishop was their he'd have to stop the games and speak, on behalf of the church in regards to player conduct.
I remember when kids didn't act out in public for fear of embarrassing the family name, no everyone want to make a spectacle of themselves. Including entire families. When I was growing up we feared that our parents would hear we were showey. They’d cut our backsides good. Now if you now the one acting out or cussing, something wrong with you. NO! Something wrong with people supporting a league with so many foul mouthed players who don’t even understand that they are playing basketball in a CHURCH!
I'm not condemning the league, I condemning the officials, and the people who running the league for not controlling the players. Now I see way the players act the way they do, because no one sees a problem with it because we have all learned to used such behavior as entertainment.