The National Elite Basketball League (NEBL) is back. And as announced last week, with an unprecedented 100 grand in the prize kitty. Today at the official press conference to launch the season, the return of the NEBL came with a former commissioner, a minister of State, a new sports council director and an attorney turned into new commissioner at the head table.
The NEBL's Leeroy Banner explained that this season is about making watching basketball for families again:
Leroy Banner, NEBL Commissioner
"The league has been inactive for some time due to COVID and lack of funding, and we all know that sports is expensive. So, with government's commitment and with the team owners who have been around for many years, we believe that we will have a successful season."
"The aim of this season is to have high-level basketball games with a lot of local players. For far too long, we have a lot of imports. So, the way it is structured is that we want to have mostly homeown talents with a fusion of three non-residents."
"So, what we do now is that we encourage the fan base to increase because in addition to having high-level basketball games, we also want to have it to be a family event. We want the product to be family-based."
"We want to see Civic come back back in the 1980s or early 2000s. We know that it will be difficult because there is a disconnect. For far too long, there has been inactivity at the grassroots level."
"So, this is, so even though we're starting at the semi-pro level, according to the minister's long-term plan is that they will try to incorporate schools and high schools and primary schools. So, eventually, now, once the grassroots level increase, then we will have more local content, but we have to begin somewhere. So, we are at this level now."
The NEBL season is not starting without some potential "rivalry" as the BPBL season is also set to start, only because this league is completely privately owned, without support from the government. Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Devin Daly said basically said that the olive branch has been extended in effort to have a united front but they have chosen otherwise:
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports
"In the best interest of the sport, just like what I said in the opening remarks, in the best interest of the sport and the best interest of athletes, we have reached out to any other leagues across the country for us to work together."
"The Hurricanes is not a part of this league. They decided to do a different venture coming on in the season, but I prefer to look at the glass half full rather than half empty. It's an opportunity for athletes to play the sport that we all love for more months out of the year."
"But however, I will say that I am challenging the management of that other league for them to come over and have us have a united front. And we can potentially have more than one leagues, but just united."
The season is set to begin on February 20.
