THE Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) is currently in need of approximately $10 million to run the 2018 National Basketball League (NBL).

That’s the word from acting president of JABA, Calvin Martin, at the launch of the NBL held at the Jamaica Olympic Association headquarters last Wednesday.

“Currently JABA is a far way from the sum needed to run the entire NBL season, which funds will have to be paid for the venues used, prize money, trophies, medals, umpires, officials, and administration,” Martin said.

Twenty-three teams will be participating in the 2018 NBL, which is expected to last for approximately 12 weeks.

Martin said that this is a rebirth of the NBL, which was started in 2004 and was last active in 2013.

He said it was the view of JABA’s executives since last year, that the competition must be played this year, despite the fact that the association was still in need of additional sponsorship.

“Currently JABA is very short of sponsorship, and we hope that during the season more sponsors will come on board to assist us with their sponsorship,” he said.

Martin noted that JABA could encounter problems with some matches slated for the National Arena, especially when the venue is scheduled to host other functions.

“We would have to find another suitable venue as not all the basketball venues are suitable to host games with the proper facilities for players, umpires, and spectators,” he said.

Alf Remeike, who is the coordinator of competitions for JABA, said the 23 teams from across the island are from four conferences — Southern, Western, Central and Eastern.

The 11 teams from Southern Conference, comprising Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine, are defending champions Urban Knights, Spanish Town Spartans, St George’s Slayers, Pembroke Hall Warriors, Upper Room Eagles, Portmore Flames, Tivoli Wizards, UWI Running Rebels, St George’s Saints, Selassie Gardens Lions, and Majesty Gardens Legends.

Each team in the Southern Conference NBL will play each other once, with the top four teams advancing to the quarter-finals knockout round.

For the Western Conference there will be six teams that will come from the parishes of St James, Westmoreland, Hanover and western Trelawny. They will play each other twice, with the top two teams qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, both the Central and Eastern Conferences will have three teams each, playing each other three times with the winner of each qualifying for the quarter-finals knockout stage.

Central Conference comprises the parishes of St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon, while Eastern Conference comprises the parishes of Portland, St Thomas, and Eastern St Mary.

“The winners of each quarter-final will advance to the semi-finals to be played on a best-of-three games, likewise the final,” Remeike said.

“There will be a number of Jamaicans who have received scholarships to colleges in the United Sates over the years — and have played in the National Basketball Association and European professional basketball league — who will be turning out for some of these local teams,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Young Crime Watch Jamaica (YCWJ) has signed a memorandum of understanding with JABA for eight months of these basketball competitions at the various venues.

Kethania Griffiths, executive director of YCWJ, and JABA’s Martin signed the agreement at the launch held on Wednesday. It is a partnership with JABA for when mini basketball is played in various inner-city communities, to guide them and prevent indiscipline amongst the players and teams.