By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) pro Jonquel “JJ” Jones made Bahamian history as the first woman to successfully win a WNBA Finals MVP and WNBA championship with the New York Liberty’s 3-2 series win against the Minnesota Lynx in October.

With that being said, Jones’ recent accomplishments have ignited discussions about what can be done to enhance the girls’ and women’s basketball programmes in the country.

Anastacia Sands-Moultrie, who serves as president of the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association and as a head coach at St Augustine’s College (SAC), weighed in on the topic with her thoughts.

“We can have more developmental programmes for them starting from the mini level and our focus has to be on development and not only just one time at the high school or night league level. It has to be across the board. In my view and opinion, there is no development in the high schools. I am looking at some teams and the coaches are just in it for the money. The girls are not developing and the skill level isn’t there,” she said.

The NPWBA president emphasized that it is important to place the same emphasis on the women’s programmes that is placed on the men’s programmes in addition to adequate funding.

“If we can just get that up and running and take our time like we do with the guys and put it into females I think we can get a whole lot more done. Also, in terms of funding we do not get that much funding even though you may ask you get denied most times to assist with females,” she said.

The 2024 WNBA champion and Finals MVP made it to the WNBA Finals four times before having a successful breakthrough to end the season. She advanced to the big dance twice with the Connecticut Sun and made another two trips with the New York Liberty.

Despite reaching the pinnacle of WNBA success, Jones had to leave Holmes Rock during her early teen years to pursue her dream of having a successful pro career.

According to Sands-Moultrie, women’s basketball in the country can experience more success if there were ample facilities for young ladies to train at on a consistent basis.

“Basketball needs facilities. We can count Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium out because there is always something going on at Sir Kendal and you can never get it for what it was actually built for. We need more facilities around and more parks. You can even close in some parks so even when it rains people can still go outdoors and still workout,” she said.

The SAC senior girls head coach said there needs to be more interest from young ladies in the sport as well but she believes that Jones’ historic feat will serve as a confidence booster across the board.

“That is a confidence booster right there for them. We have to get them more into female college basketball and the WNBA because they will watch more of the NBA and the men’s league. I think this year in the WNBA has set a precedent in terms of what females can do in basketball not just here in The Bahamas but in the world,” she said.

Jones intends to make a direct impact on girl’s and women’s basketball with her Liberty teammates in upcoming weeks.

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (MOYSC) will host two motorcades on New Providence and Grand Bahama on November 16 and 18 respectively.

The decorated WNBA pro will also host workshops and clinics on both islands during this time.