The long serving Bequia Basketball Association President, and former Caribbean Basketball Secretary, Sabrina Mitchell has been elected Secretary of the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA), becoming the first Vincentian and also the first woman elected to the prestigious post. Mitchell was elected by acclimation, being the sole nomination for Secretary, at the annual assembly and elections of the organization, held in Miami Florida on Tuesday February 14th. She will also serve as a Board Member of the FIBA Americas Zone Board, and continues her current role as Member of the Finance Commission of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. Guyanese Patrick Haynes, who was the former Secretary was elected CONCENCABA President, defeating former Caribbean Basketball President, Barbadian Glyne Clarke, who also ran for the position. The SVG Basketball Federation was represented by President Rohan Providence, who attended the FIBA Plus Seminar and both CBC and CONCENCABA Elective Assemblies in Miami Florida.
Mitchell founded the Bequia Basketball Association in 1999, which has a stellar record of annual tournaments every year, with the exception of the two year Covid-19 hiatus. She also served as Secretary General of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation for 19 years, since 2004, and is currently the Sports Ambassador of SVG. She is well known for her volunteer service to her country, serving as the Director of the Bequia Musical Festival, Chair of the Bequia Tourism Board and a successful business woman in her own right, owning and managing several companies on the island of Bequia.
Speaking about the election of Mitchell to the lofty post, Federation President, Rohan Providence said, “ Ms. Mitchell’s ascension to the position of CONCENCABA General Secretary is testimony to her consistency, commitment and profound love and ongoing contribution to the development of the game throughout the FIBA family. Her new role also empowers her to make an even greater impact towards the development of the game. On behalf of my executive and the SVG Basketball Federation, we wish Ms. Mitchell every success in her role and extend the same to Mr. Patrick Haynes – The President of CONCENCABA. Working together we have no doubt that basketball will see profound development and growth here at home and across the Sub zone.”
Providence attended the FIBA Plus Workshop held from February 10th to 12th, where all National Federations were given administrative tools and knowledge sharing to enable the growth of basketball in their respective countries. The Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) elections took place on February 13th, and St. Lucia’s Leslie Collymore was elected Interim President, with Miss Velica Augustin, also from St. Lucia being elected to Mitchell’s former post of CBC Secretary.
CONCENCABA is the regional authority of basketball in the geographic region of Central America and the Caribbean, with the responsibility of promoting and governing the sport of basketball, and organizing completions within this Sub zone, with the overriding authority being FIBA and its Regional Office, FIBA Americas. There are 31 National member Federations assigned to CONCENCABA: Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Kits & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and the Virgin Islands.