SAINT-CLAUDE, Guadeloupe — Elfema Williams, the coach of the Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) team, praised her players for putting in a valiant effort to claim silver in division one of the first-ever regional unified basketball tournament.

The Jamaicans, featuring three males and two females in their squad, lost 8-13 to the all-male St Maarten team in Saturday’s final at the Daniel Cassin gymnasium in Guadeloupe.

“They really tried hard, and I’m really pleased about that. They’ve done well, and it was good exposure for our ladies in the team, so I have no complaints,” Williams told the Jamaica Observer during a post-game interview.

“We could have won the game but we lacked execution — we had too many turnovers. We really wanted the gold medal — it slipped away from us but I’m grateful,” the SOJ coach reiterated.

Alongside Jamaica and St Maarten the tournament comprised delegations from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis, and Trinidad & Tobago. Hosts Guadeloupe put out two teams.

The unified component allowed teams to combine people with and without intellectual disabilities in a bid to bolster awareness about Special Olympics.

Williams said organisers found a winning formula.

“The tournament overall was good. Guadeloupe was hosting something like this for the first time and they did well. We had so many teams here and it offered so much exposure for the athletes, with many of them travelling to another country for the very first time and all learning so much,” she explained.

She noted the convenient timing of the competition because Special Olympics Jamaica is expected to enter an all-female team at a basketball tournament in Puerto Rico early next month.

As the curtains came down in Guadeloupe, Williams got news which lifted her spirit in the wake of the devastation caused to sections of her homeland Jamaica when deadly Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28.

“I’m so heartened by the support given by other programmes here. Guy Vala [Special Olympics Guadeloupe national director] says they are staging a concert here and they will pass on all proceeds to Jamaica to assist with hurricane relief,” she said.

— Sanjay Myers

WILLIAMS… it slipped away from us but I’m grateful