MISSING YOU: Coach Terrance ‘Red-Eye’ McSweeney and his Diamond Basketball development programme for girls hosted a basketball clinic in memory of the late Jonique ‘Mini’ Webb at the Charles W Saunders High School on Saturday. Photo: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff
#By BRENT STUBBS
#Senior Sports Reporter
#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
#Coach Terrance McSweeney was pleased with the turnout he got on Saturday for his Diamond Basketball development programme’s memorial for the late Jonique ‘Mini’ Webb.
#Webb, who passed away on January 19, 2020, after her battle with lupus, was honoured three days after she would have celebrated her 31st birthday on May 10.
#A basketball clinic was held in her memory at the Charles W Saunders High School, Jean Street.
#“She was involved in our programme up until the time she graduated from Jordan Prince Williams in 2006,” said McSweeney of the girls’ development programme he started in 1995.
#“Jonique was a very versatile student-athlete, who was a high achiever as a student and was very versatile as an athlete. Other than the athleticism of an athlete, for me as a coach, I look at their academic ability and she was a high achiever with a 3.85 to a 4.0 student.”
#McSweeney said he was delighted to host the clinic on the basketball court at Charles W Saunders where Webb would have represented the JPW Falcons basketball and volleyball teams in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) and for Golden Gates Native Baptist Church in the Baptist Sports Council. “This is only a fitting memorial for her from the Diamond Basketball development programme,” McSweeney said. “It was also good to see the number of young girls who came out and participated in the clinic.
#“We had primary schools from Charles W Saunders, Freedom Baptist Academy and Carlton E Francis as well as girls from both the public and private schools. So we give God all of the glory for what we experienced today.”
#Edward Dean, the administrative assistant at Charles W Saunders High School and mathematics teacher who also assists in the basketball teams for the Cougars, said it was good to be a part of the clinic.
#“We have an obligation to develop all of the sports, but we also want to make sure that more emphasis is being placed on the development of the girls’ programme,” Dean said.
#“We are really pleased with the players who came out. We saw a lot of talent that needed to be developed.”
#Dean congratulated McSweeney for taking the initiative to keep the memory of Webb alive through the clinic. He said it’s about time that more of the former female players, coaches and officials are recognised for the role they played in the growth and development of sports in the past.
#“It’s just a tremendous opportunity to get so many of these young ladies out on the basketball court,” Dean said. “Normally when you pass a basketball court, you see so many young men, but we have a basketball court full of young ladies who are eager to learn the game and improve on their skills.”
#One of those young ladies was Craignisha ‘Fingers’ McPhee, a 17-year-old 12th grader at the Anatol Rodgers High School who said she decided to come out to the clinic because she knows that McSweeney has the ability to help her improve her game.
#“I want to go to the WNBA and so sessions like this will really help me to improve on my game,” Dean said.
#“I realised that I have to stay flat-footed, pay attention, key my eyes up and let the ball come to the hand so you can control the pass to your team-mates.”
#And Gabrielle ‘Chocolate’ Russell, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Charles W Saunders, who stands at 5-feet, 10-inches, said she came out to practice so that she can play better next year than she did this year for the Cougars. “I was reminded to always look up and don’t get distracted. I also learned how to shoot better and to dribble the ball better,” Russell said.
#“I think if I can stay focused, learn when to shoot and pass the ball to my team-mates, I will be in a better position to become a better player.”
#McSweeney said he saw a lot of resemblance of Webb in some of the players at the clinic. He hopes to continue to make the event an annual one where he will incorporate some other aspects of the game like three-point shooting and free throws at the end of the clinic next year.
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2023/may/16/diamond-basketball-clinic-keeps-fond-memories-joni/?news