Kelsey Guye's Basketball Kudos

His first name begins with the letter K. So too do the names of his mum, his sister and the majority of his relatives on his mother's side of his extended family. His eldest uncle, Keith was into cricket and his Dad, Emanuel 'Totes' Guye played league football and also served as a Football Referee.

Now, in strides Kelsey "C" Guye, age 26 years, and standing at a reasonable height (by Dominican standards) of 6 ft 3½ inches.

Kelsey was introduced to sports by his Dad who would have him view various sports programmes on television in his younger days. He vividly remembers the exploits of Brian Lara, Chanderpaul and other famous cricketers of the day.

When he got to playing sports Kelsey actually started off in football, with Dominica Grammar School and then Dominica's Under-15 Football Team. He also represented Dominica Grammar School in Under-20 cricket.

Kelsey subsequently channeled his sports energies into basketball, first playing with Dominica Grammar School from 2nd to 5th Form (2006-2009) in the Sports Division Schools League. His expression changed when he related losing a Finals versus Dominica State College.

After graduating from secondary school Kelsey entered the national (DABA) basketball league and has so far played with three teams in the "big league". He debuted in 2009 with Element Agency Clouds which competed in the Premier Division then, and remained with that Goodwill-based side for only one season as Clouds dissipated thereafter.

He then helped form Carib Sand & Stones Starz in 2010 and played with them (later named Goodwill Starz) in the national league's 2nd level division for five seasons until that team faded away. Importantly, Kelsey helped Starz capture the 2011 Regular Season Championship.

There is a popular expression, "When it's nice you've got to do it twice", and Kelsey brought that expression to centre-court in 2013. During the national basketball season that year he twice sank an impressive 32 points versus Falcons, including a Division I Play-off game.

A regular high-scorer for his team, Kelsey in 2014 amassed 101 points from 6 games, was the top-scorer for Goodwill Starz, and was the 2nd highest free-throw scorer for Starz with an aggregate of 21.

Importantly, while playing with Goodwill Starz Kelsey gained selection to Dominica's Under-23 Basketball Team and represented the Nature Island in the 2nd Sugar-Creole Basketball Tournament in Dominica in 2012. Other participants in that tourney represented St. Kitts, Martinique and Dominica's Senior National Basketball Team.

Secondly, playing in the Forward position Kelsey's highest individual game-score has been a massive 45 points, made with Starz against CrossOver while those teams competed in the national league's 2nd level division.

Goodwill Starz last twinkled at the end of the 2014 season, and come 2015 Kelsey joined CrossOver, playing again in the Premier Division of the national league until the passage of Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

Kelsey, being still relatively young, has not played in as many other basketball leagues as his older, more experienced colleagues such as 'Toto', Mills and others. However, to date he has played with Goodwill Starz in the Goodwill Off-Season Basketball League; with Fond Canie Rebels, then Maggnificos in the Roseau Valley Basketball League; and with Roseau Improvement Committee/RIC in the 2018-2019 Ronald Charles Basketball League in Trafalgar.

Additionally, Guye played with CrossOver in the first-ever Kelver Darroux Basketball League (KDBL) which showcased in St. Joseph in mid-2018. That competition was run in the months following Hurricane Maria and Kelsey and others think that that league was a quasi-national league with teams coming from around Dominica.

Coming hot on the heels of the KDBL, the national association in August 2018 invited teams to register for the first-ever DABA/DOC Business Basketball League which bounced off at St. Joseph, late in 2018. And of course, Kelsey was there, playing with Digicel with some other big-name players from the national league.

Basketballers often look forward to representing Dominica 'on tour' but unfortunately Kelsey has not been afforded that opportunity. However, he has played as an invited member of the Premier Division team Blazers, when they participated in the invitational 2017 Basketball Fitness Tournament which was held in St. Maarten.

Kelsey has a small collection of trophies and awards, and standing prominently in that cabinet is his MVP Award received for the Wilmoth LeBlanc Basketball Classic which was played in the 2013 season-opener. He was also voted 2013 Slam-Dunk Champion; his other trophies are shared team awards.

And when not working or playing basketball, Kelsey spends his free time playing football, listening to Reggae music, or putting his culinary skills into good, mouth-watering use.

Jump Ball says Kudos to Kelsey and wishes him well in his future basketball endeavors.