Sitting in the President's Chair

Part I of the article presented on the transition of the administration of basketball at the national level from the Basketball Sub-Committee of the Dominica Amateur Sports Association (DASA-BSC) to an autonomous organisation, viz. the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association, from 1974. The DASA-BSC was responsible for basketball administration for eight years, 1966-1974.

Part I also presented short profiles on former Basketball Presidents Wilmoth LeBlanc, Ronald Green, Edgar Robinson and David Fontaine.

The article continues below:-

Blaize 'Arrow' Jones of Grand Bay debuted in the national league in the 1970s with Dominica Grammar School (Senior) and later became a member of Bata Pros. His next two teams were Harks, followed by Owls with which he played in 1985 and 1986.

Arrow was also selected to Dominica's State Team that participated in the first Windward Islands Basketball Tournament which was staged in St. Lucia in 1975.

Jones assumed the Presidency of DABA in late 1986, and together with the rest of an 'Interim-Committee' they were formally endorsed by the Association's general body in 1987, serving until 1988.

Immediately prior to his ascent to the office of President Blaize had been serving on the Association's Executive as Assistant Secretary/Treasurer.

Valentine 'Val' Cuffy played with and was the coach/manager of Northern Pacers from Goodwill. They competed in the National League's Intermediate Division in 1986.

As head honcho of the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association, Val served in two terms, about ten years apart.

He was first elected President for the 1988-1990 period and later in 1997, but did not complete his second term, resigning in June 1998.

Al Monelle played with no less than eight (8) teams in the national league. While attending the St. Mary's Academy he debuted with SMA Juniors, later stepping up to SMA Seniors. He then moved across to Dominica Grammar School in 1972 and played with DGS (Senior) for one year.

Subsequently, from the mid-1970s through to the late 1990s Al played with five other DABA teams, viz. Electrons, Ambassadors, Harks, Raiders from Portsmouth as coach/player and ending his playing career with Pioneers in the Intermediate Division.

Monelle, a banker by profession, served as President of the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association from 1990 to 1992, succeeding Val Cuffy and bounce-passing the ball to Mickey Joseph.

Udean Grove (Mrs) - now Udean Peters (Mrs) - is one of two individuals who served the Dominica Amateur Basketball Association as President but who never played basketball, and one of three who did not play in the national league.

Mrs. Grove, however, a former Mayor of Roseau has the distinction of being the only female to have headed basketball in Dominica. She was elected to the post in 1996 but did not complete her 2-year term.

It may be of interest to note that women have been participating in Dominica's national basketball league since 1977 when the original Pioneers made their debut, playing against all-male teams then. Further, the current (2019) Vice-President of the Association, Ms Sheena Harry, narrowly missed being elected President by a single vote.

Mickey Joseph played with five teams in the National League, two while at school and three after graduation. He debuted on SMA Juniors and was later promoted to SMA Gnats in the Senior Division while attending the St. Mary's Academy.

Post-graduation, Mickey became a founding member of Wizards and some years later he was drafted by the legendary Cardinals; both of those teams competed in the national league's Senior Division. Subsequently, Mickey joined the 1990s Pioneers together with a few other former Cardinals players and others.

Joseph was a regular on the Dominica Senior National Team for five years, was a member of Dominica's National Youth Team in 1978, and coached (National team, Police and X-Men) for several years.

In the President's chair, Mickey headed the DABA in three non-consecutive stints (1992-1996; 1999-2000 and 2012-2014). He had also completed Udean Grove's stint following her resignation. Over the years he served on the Executive in most of the other positions, viz. Vice-President, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer and Committee Member.

Davidson 'Dave' Baron debuted in the national league with Cardinals (Senior Division). From Cardinals he went on to play with Flames Senior team, and left the court as a member of Pioneers (sometimes referred to as 'Vets') which played in the League's Intermediate Division in the 1990s.

Heading the Association, Dave served in the office of President for three non-consecutive terms, from 2002-2008 and 2010-2012. He succeeded Edgar Robinson and fake-passed to Mickey Joseph.

Concludes next edition