"It will be exciting and intense," commented BVIBF President Guy L. Malone. Photo: VINO/File

Recent action from the earlier rounds of the BVIBF league. Photo: VINO/File

Action from an earlier League game between All Ah Wee and Bayside Blazers. 'Bayside' has been knocked out of the Championship. Photo: VINO/File

Faced with a break due to the hosting of the 2014 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Men's and Women's Championships during the first two weeks of the month and also numerous other demands on the MPSC, BVIBF’s "Short and Sweet, Back on our Feet" league was in danger of being put on hold until a window of opportunity opened up at short notice.

As BVIBF President Mr. Guy L. Malone pointed out in an interview with Virgin Islands News Online, "What with the CBC, the Mixed Martial Arts event and the upcoming Queen Show, we are lucky to have been given a week from Sunday 20th July until next Sunday 27th July, in which we can use the Gym and complete the League."

The top four teams from the Senior and Junior Divisions will battle it out all week along in best of three match ups to see who will be declared Champion.

"It will be exciting and intense," commented Malone. "Fans will be able to see the top players compete together and against each other, rivalries will be renewed and by the end of the week the Junior and the Senior Champions will be crowned in a pulsating end to the Short and Sweet, Back on our Feet League and all before Carnival gets underway!” Malone said.

All games will start at 6.45pm with the second game slated for 9.00pm.

On Sunday (July 20th), Fearless and Mad Mix get Junior action underway and they will be followed by East playing All Ah Wee.

On Monday (July 21st), And One face Starz in the first game, before Legs take on Kings.

On Tuesday (July 22nd), Mad Mix and Fearless play game two of their series followed by All Ah Wee against East.

On Wednesday (July 23rd) Starz face And One whilst the evening concludes with Kings playing Legs

Thursday will be scheduled if necessary and depending on results, whilst the Championship games will begin Friday.

Following the successful conclusion of this Year’s Championship, Malone pointed out that the attention of the Federation would move away from holding Leagues and instead they would put more effort into raising the game's profile, preparing National teams for tournament participation and also focusing more on establishing a sustainable Women’s programme.

"The Federation will still be sanctioning and overseeing leagues, but hopefully we will spend more time developing the game and getting more teams to play in the CBC, FIBA and Centro Baskets type tournaments. Also for next year we hope to have an annual calendar up and running to make sure the leagues don't overlap" he stated.