The Senior Rams Basketball Team of the Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) has had an outstanding basketball season that saw them destroy opponents in the AAU College Showcase Championships in Orlando Florida, April 13 - April 14, 2019. Photo: Provided

The Senior Rams Basketball Team represented the territory at two major international tournaments in both the USA and the regional Caribbean territory of The Bahamas. Photo: Team of Reporters

However, even with their success, Head Coach Steve E. Pavilion, in an exclusive interview with Virgin Islands News Online (VINO), said the team faced some amount of challenges relating to funding that came as a result of sacrifices made to represent at various international tournaments.

Great Season – Mr Pavilion

“The season went well, I feel like we didn’t get to play our normal amount of games like we did, obviously election played a big role because it was around election time, so certain funding wasn’t there for us to go to the normal tournament that we go to in the USVI and we actually played in the IAA league this year, but to me it was well and next year we’ll probably be more prepared,” Mr Pavilion told this new site.

In the AAU College Showcase Championships where the team had a clean sweep, they played a total of 5 games going undefeated to win the championship. However, the success at their Bahamas 2019 Caribbean Championships came at a cost, as they had to miss other tournament usually attended.

“Because of this Bahamas trip which we normally dong go on, that came available, so we had to make a decision to cut down some of the other tournaments we go to. That's what I mean funding we had to choose,” the head coach told this news service.

2019 & Beyond 

Apart from head Coach Mr Pavilion, the team’s management also includes Jason A. Edwin as Assistant Coach and Manager, Carolann Simmonds.

“Basketball season is now over for the Rams, we have a school inter-house championship coming up in June and then we [will] probably have a couple [of] summer training for some of the new guys who would be joining the team for next season and preparation for next season,” Mr Pavilion further said.

“Once we put in for all the tournaments, I think that we should be able to go to all of them [tournament] next year,” he underscored, while noting that the team is currently focusing on the academic side of their players.