Havana.- The National Basketball Commission announced a new format for the upcoming Women’s Superior Basketball League.
Building on the system used with four teams in the previous edition, which employed names by geographic zone, it was decided to keep the calendar structure in which those four teams will face each other twice in a round-robin format, across four stages, each hosted at different venues.
However, this time the teams will represent the four provinces that ranked highest in the national evaluation, which is based on points earned from comprehensive work, weighing the results across all categories, including under-13, under-15, and youth.
Thus, Havana, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, and Villa Clara will be the qualifying teams, with these provinces responsible for the logistics and management of each stage.
According to information provided by the commission's methodologists to JIT, a pool of players from the other provinces will be created, from which each team can choose up to four reinforcements.
The selection will be done by lottery and will proceed in four rounds. Additionally, the commission will create another pool consisting of first-year youth and last-year school athletes, from which each team must select two more players. In total, six players from other provinces will be included in each roster.
“This new measure pursues two fundamental objectives: to raise the competitive level, which is limited in the female category, and to improve the quality of under-16 and under-18 players who, under the new regulations of the international federation, will determine qualification for international events,” explained the national commissioner of this discipline, Dalia Henry, to JIT.
According to the new rule from the worldwide governing body, qualification for multi-sport events will depend on the results in those categories, and participation in the Central American and Pan American games will be by under-20 and under-21 teams, respectively, as the former player explained.
To ensure that the activity of these athletes with immediate potential is not limited by competitiveness and the desire to win, a rule was introduced whereby no more than two reinforcements can be on the court simultaneously, unless they are youth players.
Likewise, these players must play a minimum of one quarter per game, mandatory, which guarantees their development.
“From there we will use a new comprehensive evaluation method by provinces that will award points for representation in the competing teams,” Henry clarified.
“All these decisions aim for our sports reserve, depressed in the women's category in contrast to the men's, to have at least 24 games in the Superior League, and thus to insert ourselves into the international circuit with more experienced athletes, to achieve qualification for multidisciplinary games,” concluded Henry, who is also president of the Cuban Basketball Federation.
