AJANI Williams’ commitment to the development of local basketball can hardly be second-guessed.
His leadership of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), it seems, is driven in large measure by his unbridled passion and knowledge of the game, which he was fortunate to play at the highest level, including as a centre for the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic in the glamourous NBA.After four years in the proverbial driver’s seat, Williams, 36, has overseen a transformation of the national basketball product, with the main pillar being an unflinching focus on development from the grassroots through to the elite ranks.The former first-class player, who was born in Jamaica but honed his craft for the game at Eastern Michigan University, said when he would have left the administrative court, he would have done so a “satisfied” servant of the sport of basketball.“I am satisfied, you know why, because I have given my all… I have given 130 per cent of me and based on the time I have with family and professional obligation, I know I couldn’t have given anymore,” said Williams, who stands at 6ft 10inch.Still, he said he’s not totally satisfied as he reflects on his tenure. “Am I satisfied that all the results of where I want to get come to fruition? I would say ‘no’. But do I see the fruits bearing and the platform developing, absolutely,” Williams beams as he spoke with reporters at the Jamaica Observer Sports Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue office on Thursday.“I am happy with the culture of the people I work with. I am happy that we have created a new system to protect our programmes. We just need to get the resources and keep recruiting young people.“If we can keep succession planning going, with our culture and a system, and getting people to understand and appreciate it, [it] is indeed the first step,” he noted.Williams said he was very pleased at the growth of JaBA’s many developmental programmes. “I am happy with the NBL, but I am dissatisfied with the Women’s Super League, but at least we got it rolling and I am happy with the new management team.“I am also happy with [the] youth programmes and Elite Academy, but the weakest point is high school basketball, but I am satisfied with everything else,” he said.While he celebrated growth in large chunks of the broader programmes, Williams is excited at the prospect of modernising the administration of the game across the island, and wishes a successful transformation of this to be a legacy of his tenure. “We have JaBA the administrator, but I don’t want it to swell it, I want the heaviness within the programmes… what we want to focus on is to upgrade our office and to put in TV screens to review games and our players… we also want to have satellite offices throughout our conferences, so we really want to share income with our conferences, and what we propose is a 60-40 or a 55-45 split between JaBA and the five conferences,” said an excited Williams.JaBA’s marketing guru, Paulton Gordon, who shares the vision of the president, added that the Elite Academy plays a critical role in the overall thrust to modernise the game across all planks, but bemoaned a lack of financing as a possible threat to the lofty goals of a pragmatic-thinking movement.“The Elite Academy is at a pivotal point in terms of catapulting the association in what we are doing… it is to ensure that we have a pool of players always ready to represent the country, that’s one area that we need some support at this time. “What we do is to pull about 25 or 30 persons at the high school level to hone their skills, but to support them week in and week out is always a challenge, so that’s an area that we want to look at,” he said.With more than $60 million required to fuel its various activities annually, JaBA continues to engage the corporate interests — home and abroad — and the Jamaican Government with a view to forming partnerships to sustain the game’s programmes.President of the JaBA Ajani Williams addresses the Jamaica Observer Sports Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters on Thursday. (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)View the original article here
"I"m satisfied!
