(Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands - Thursday, July 20, 2023) The TCI Sports Commission (TCISC) and Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) partnership Police Action League (PAL) hosted the Basketball Draft Day on July 15th and recorded over 100 male players registered to play.
The resounding success resulted in a change in age tiers from 12U and 16U to 13U, 15U and 17U. Boys showed up to the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex, Providenciales eager to show off their skilful prowess in the drills and scrimmages. As of 2022, the community-driven youth sports league facilitates Basketball for boys and Softball for girls.
The upcoming Softball Draft kicks off at 12:00 pm on July 22 at the Downtown Ballpark, Providenciales. Like the Basketball league, the players will take part in drills and scrimmages to be drafted by their prospective coach.
The team names remain the same as last year for both sports: Avengers, Badgers, Commanders, Guardians, Seaquest, and Skyhawks. These names are the namesake of RTCIPF vessels.
Minister of Education, Labour, Employment and Customer Service Hon. Rachel Taylor, Director of Sports Jarrett Forbes and Deputy Commissioner of Police Rodney Adams were present and intricately involved in the festivities of the draft.
In 2022, The 12U Skyhawks and 16U Badgers came out as champions. This year with more age tiers, competition will be stiffer, especially for players who have moved up a tier.
Basketball and Softball games will take place every Friday and Saturday until August 26th as this is when the Playoffs begin. This all leads up to the Basketball Championships on Saturday, 9 September 2023 and Softball Championships on September 16, 2023. Fans can purchase tickets at the door Adults for $3 and Children for $1.
The full game schedule and results can be found at https://www.gov.tc/sports/news/police-action-league.