2 months ago
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ONEIL BROWN, head coach of Jamaica women’s basketball team, and Angelee LaTouche, coordinator of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), have praised the local league’s impact on the national team.
Ahead of the 2025 Caribbean Women’s Basketball Championship (CBC) in Guyana, the Jamaica Basketball Association (JBA) revealed a 22-player training camp led by head coach Brown.
Of the 22 players selected for the camp, 20 play in the WNBL, with the remaining two players based in the United States.
Brown said the WNBL has proven important to the development of the national team and the growth of women’s basketball.
“I must say, the WNBL has worked and I’ve experienced it first-hand because I see all the ladies, whether from rural or from Kingston, playing in the league,” he explained.
“Selecting the team after seeing them play now, it was pretty much a hard call, and this was not an easy selection.
“I must say, we have to continue keeping the female league every three months or every four months for the ladies from this end to grow.”
Brown said it is important for Jamaica to have its local players competing in a competitive environment, as the core of the national team must come from the island.
According to FIBA rules, a national team can only use one naturalised player.
A naturalised player, per FIBA protocol, is any player who received their citizenship after the age of 16.
“As you know, the core must come from home,” Brown said.
“The core must come from Jamaica, because the rules say it is only one naturalised player that you’re allowed to have.
“The more we develop them, the more we’ll find avenues and leagues to play in.”
LaTouche, the WNBL coordinator, said while the league is still in its formative stages, it has had a remarkable impact on the national team.
“We’re still in early stages, but it’s been very instrumental in developing the talent and giving the players a platform to keep practising what they’ve been doing,” she said.
The WNBL was revived last year after a decade-long hiatus, and LaTouche said there is still a long way to go for the league.
She is, however, pleased to see the national team having the confidence to draw from the WNBL for their squad.
A former national player, LaTouche is aware of what it means to operate a competitive league and is hopeful of a sustainable future for the WNBL.
“As you know, they’ve been inactive for a while; so now that we created this platform for them, they’re able to showcase their talents,” she explained.
“In using the WNBL as a source to pull most of the national players, based on their performance in the league itself, is a really good sign.”
She continued, “I definitely know that the success of the league really contributed to the growth of women’s basketball for the national team, and that is what we want to keep doing.”
Jamaica will begin their campaign in the CBC against Suriname on November 12 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The top three teams from the CBC will advance to the 2026 CentroBasket Women’s Championships.
English (US) ·