Basketball Wales ENDC Strength & Conditioning

IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH OF CONCERN TO ALL!!
Update 16/01/18.

The situation at the moment Regarding Bangor City Thunder U16's being "suspended" from the League is as follows:

First of all the FACTS on WHAT HAPPENED at the U16's game Bangor City Thunder v Mold Magic on Tuesday 12th December 2017:

Officiating:

Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones
(also Basketball Wales Rep - NWBA; and father of Mr. Aled Jones - Chair of NWBA);
Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones
(also Interim Treasurer & Junior CV League Manager - NWBA; wife to Mr. Arwel Jones; and mother of Mr. Aled Jones);
Ref. Mr. Connor Green.

The game started with both sides displaying an awesome game of basketball, playing practically "neck-to-neck" for all of the first 3 quarters of the game.

The scores for the first 3 quarters confirm the above, and were as follows:

Q.1: BCT 11 Mold 12 (1 point diff - Mold 1 point ahead)
Q.2: BCT 13 Mold 14 (1 point diff - Mold 2 points ahead)
Q.3: BCT 20 Mold 17 (3 points diff - Bangor 1 point ahead)

However, upon the start of the fourth quarter, the OBVIOUS IRREGULARITIES immediately commenced. The barrage of calling of fouls in quick succession by one particular Ref Mr. Connor Green started in earnest.

Once again, the STATS DON'T LIE, and the STATS THEMSELVES ALONE speak for themselves!

In just this quarter alone, Bangor City Thunder were slapped with all of an UNBELIEVABLE ELEVEN FOULS all in the space of merely TEN MINUTES! That's MORE THAN ONE PER MINUTE! All of NINE of which were by the one SAME Ref, young Mr. Connor Green!

From being literally "neck-to-neck" in ALL previous 3 quarters, the score in the fourth quarter, which BCT started ahead by the way, went from a previous "neck-to-neck" throughout the entire game to suddenly to a ridiculous TWENTY-ONE for Mold v a mere TWO for BCT!

It's simply UNREALISTIC and UTTERLY MIND BOGGLING!

Things like that SIMPLY DON'T HAPPEN unless something suddenly went VERY WRONG INDEED!!

If that doesn't cry out with ANOMALOUS and "LET's REVIEW WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THERE" then I don't know what the hell does!! THAT is why this WILL NOT go away until there's some sense and fairness put into it.

The unbelievably and utterly inconsistent with the rest of the game score for the fourth quarter was as follows:

Q.4: BCT 2 Mold 21 (19 POINTS DIFF - Mold 18 points ahead)

The video footage of Q4. shows that it was MONUMENTALLY INCONSSISTENT with the otherwise head-to-head equal performance demonstrated by both teams in ALL OF THE PREVIOUS THREE QUARTERS!

When such a MONUMENTAL ANOMALLY occurs, especially when you start the quarter ahead yourselves in a closely matched game, and suddenly you get hammered with a monsoon of fouls, QUESTIONS INEVITABLY ARISE!

I'm sure that anyone reading this will agree with me when I say that I would be failing to do my job justice as Coach and Manager if I didn't raise any questions!

So I wrote what I still believe was a measured and carefully-worded Post on our FB Page on that very same night (I was so upset that I could not sleep, so by the time I posted it was technically Wednesday 13th December 2017 at 01:50am) reassuring BCT players, parents, families and supporters that as BCT Coach I was going to carry out a Review of what happened in that fourth quarter and SEEK ADVICE & FEEDBACK from the Officials. The FB Post intentionally did NOT mention any Ref nor Official, nor name anyone in particular; and was NOT personally critical nor insulting of anyone in particular. PLEASE SEE FOR YOURSELVES: https://www.facebook.com/BangorCityBasketball/posts/189484854938783. However, Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones immediately decided upon himself to take it personally, when it wasn't, and on the day following the game made an Official Complaint to the NWBA Chairman (his son Aled), an action which I feel was unnecessarily precipitous and premature, and which has as a result caused all this trouble in this situation.

His Formal Complaint was then (obviously) soon followed by one from Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones (his wife and mother of Mr. Aled Jones - NWBA Chairman); and then of course by one from the young Ref himself Mr. Connor Green.

I then received a nightime email from Mr. Aled Jones - Chairman of NWBA (and son of both Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones and Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones) sent out literally at the eleventh hour AT 23:46 AT NIGHT, advising me that he was in receipt of a Formal Complaint against us from Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones [his father] and Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones [his mother], (Ref. Mr. Connor Green's "obviously" followed soon thereafter), and giving us a MERE 24 HOURS to respond!

We suddenly went from being the VICTIMS, to becoming the DEFENDANTS!!

I replied that as stated in the FB Post, we were about to conduct a Detailed Review of the situation and scrutinise the footage, and that therefore giving us such an incredibly short deadline of merely 24 hours after receiving a night-time email sent out at 23:46 at night was clearly insufficient and unfair. I further asked if he would kindly advise me if the incredibly short deadline he was imposing upon us of 24 hours (after a night-time email at almost midnight!) was in accordance with NWBA Rules or whether he was doing this "arbitrarily" by his own volition, and if it was the former, if he would kindly refer me to such a rule. As expected, he replied that this (incredibly short and therefore totally unfair deadline within which to respond and which therefore put undue pressure upon us) was not in accordance with any NWBA rule, and that he was just trying to "deal with this quickly". Yes, sure!

Then on Tuesday 12th December I received an email from him, Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, advising me that they had already had a "Disciplinary Committee" Meeting earlier that day (which consisted of 4 NWBA Committee members, including HIM (and CHAIRED BY HIM! Despite the fact that he is the son of TWO of the Complainants! If that is not a conflict of Interest, then I don't know what is!) without allowing us any opportunity whatsoever to submit our side of the story, and therefore completely ignoring anything that we might wish to submit in evidence!

They wanted us to remove the FB Post (every word of which I stand by to this date!); Apologise; and a few other minor requirements such as give assurances of future good conduct and the usual thing one might expect.

I immediately replied clearly highlighting to them the clear unfairness of how the NWBA Committee had only had access to ONE SIDE OF THE STORY, and that was the Official's reaction (Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones' precipitous and premature reaction to my Post on our Team's FB Page), quickly followed by Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones' (his wife), and then young Ref. Mr. Connor Green's of course.

I assured Mr. Aled Jones that once we had concluded our own detailed Review of the game and carefully assessed the advice obtained, we would be submitting our results to him, probably in the form of our own Official Complaint.

I highlighted how I hoped and trusted that the Committee would be fully understanding that surely, without the presentation of the argument by BOTH sides, any outcome would yet again be seen to be unfair, and indeed provoke yet more unwanted criticism, which could go public, as indeed it was and is the parents' right to do so if they so wish.

I explained that in the meantime, whilst this matter was still open we couldn't and shouldn't take any steps that might give the erroneous impression that we were neither responsible nor admit responsibility on our part until of course our own side of the matter is completed and submitted to the Committee.

I further highlighted that I thought that we should try to contain this matter within the NWBA as there were (and indeed these questions remain!) many questions that needed to be addressed, both about the way that we felt that THE OFFICIATING OF THE GAME WENT "TOTALLY BERSERK" IN THE LAST QUARTER, as well as about what many parents and supporters feel are CLEAR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST THAT CURRENTLY EXIST WITHIN NWBA and therefore allow our side to prepare our own submission and then, once in possession of BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT, the Committee could THEN make a better informed and more objective assessment.

Then on Wednesday 3rd January 2018 I received a reply from Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, explaining the delay in replying to me being the fact that we all took a break over Christmas as "we're all volunteers" (don't I know that, I'm one myself!), and expressing "the Committee's disappointment with my refusal to accept their findings". He further noted to me that "any counter official complaint regarding the judgment of officials [would] be invalid. Please see league rule below.

7.2 Any disputes must be recorded on the score sheet and a report submitted to the League Secretary within 48 hours of the end of the game. The report should also be copied to the club secretary for the opposing team. Under no circumstances can a result be disputed on the basis of the floor officials’ judgments."

He also said that they "refute[d] [my] claim that the Committee had only had access to one side of the story." HOW ON EARTH they can possibly substantiate that claim I have NO IDEA given that they simply hadn't given us an opportunity to submit our Review (it was the 3rd January, barely New Year!).

He also said that we HAD had an opportunity to present our side of the story. NO, WE DIDN'T! As he said HIMSELF, quote: "The delay in our reply is due to the Christmas break, during which all members of the committee took a break from basketball. As we're all volunteers, I'm sure you can appreciate this."

Well Mr. Jones, WE are ALSO VOLUNTEERS and WE ALSO took a break from basketball over the Christmas period, just like YOU and your colleagues did! So NO, we have NOT had an opportunity to present OUR SIDE OF THE STORY.

YOU ENSURED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY THAT YOU DIDN'T GIVE US ONE! This is evident and shows through as an obvious and clear pattern in the email sent out at nearly midnight; in the arbitrarily-imposed ridiculously short 24-hour deadlines you personally imposed; in the undue pressure put upon us by your attempts to impose such unfair deadlines upon us; by your convening the "Disciplinary Committee" before we had any chance to submit OUR SIDE of the story; by your personal participation in the Disciplinary Committee which furthermore YOU CHAIRED, DESPITE the fact that TWO of the Complainants were your Mum & Dad; and by LITERALLY TRYING TO BLACKMAIL ME into submission, THREATENING ME that unless we took the actions required by your Disciplinary Committee chaired by YOURSELF (as per your herein abovementioned email of email of Tuesday 12th December 2018) WITHIN 48 HOURS, you were taking the extreme step of KICKING THE YOUNG LADS' TEAM OFF THE LEAGUE!

He (Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA) then finished by DECLARING "that this matter is closed, and the committee will not enter into any further debate."

This matter is FAR FROM CLOSED Mr. Jones, I've barely begun!.. and let me give YOU some good advice: I DO NOT GIVE IN TO BLACKMAIL! Quite on the contrary, it makes my obsessively determined!! I am old enough, wise enough, ugly enough and fair enough to bow down with grace, say "fair Cop" and apologise when I am wrong; but I am likewise equally determined to the point of obsession when I feel it is a matter of principle, and I will fight such situations determinedly and relentlessly to the bitter end, and not leave a single stone unturned.

After receiving the above THREATS on the back of BLACKMAIL, I rushed the completion of our Review and had it ready within the 48-HOUR deadline given to us.

On Friday 5th January 2018, within the said 48-hour deadline, I replied to Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA. In my reply, I confirmed the fact that we had complied with their requirements, i.e. I had removed the said Post from Bangor City Thunder's page; I provided them with an apology; and advised that we would comply with the other small bits and pieces.

I also officially submitted to him and his colleagues at the NWBA "Disciplinary Committee" which HE chaired, the Results of our Detailed Review, which to-date they even refuse to acknowledge and consider.

I also posted an Update on the Bangor City Thunder page (please see, starting from Update 05/01/18: https://www.facebook.com/BangorCityBasketball/posts/189484854938783), in place of the Post which I had duly removed under threat, for Information Purposes Only, and clearly stating that this was purely for the benefit of all BCT players, parents, families and supporters with whom we had recently consulted and discussed this matter, and who were therefore closely following developments, and to whom I had a duty and indeed a responsibility to keep informed on the progress of this matter, advising them of the latest developments and similarly of the requirements put upon us by NWBA's "Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, given that one of those requirements was that posts and comments on our FB Page should not be critical of officials, therefore this needed to be conveyed to members, together with the latest developments. Please see said Post for yourselves on the abovementioned link herein this paragraph.

DESPITE complying with ALL of the requirements of the NWBA's "Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, I still then received an email on Sunday 7th January 2018 sent out at 19:08 in the evening, on this occasion from Mr. Ashley Fisher (Aled's Deputy Chair, who also sat as one of the four in the "Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA), accusing me of somehow having "once again failed to accept the NWBA committee’s decision upon Bangor City Thunder Basketball Clubs disciplinary."

I DID COMPLY WITH ALL OF THEIR REQUIREMENTS (albeit reluctantly, just to SAVE THE YOUNG LADS' TEAM UNDER THREAT OF BLACKMAIL WITH KICKING THEM OUT OF THE LEAGUE!). What I believe that they (the NWBA's "Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA) somehow "intentionally" interpreted as "failing to accept their decision" was my subsequent Update on the Bangor City Thunder page, which I mention above, conveying to players, parents, family, supporters and members the requirements put upon us as regards posts and comments, together with updating them on the latest developments.

Please do see said Post for yourselves on the abovementioned link herein this paragraph.

Mr. Ashley Fisher (Aled's Deputy Chair, who as I mention above also sat as one of the four in the "Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA), explained how the reason for him deciding to respond to my correspondence to Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, was the "due to the disrespect and now personal attack upon the Chairman has come of this."

It obviously seems that disagreeing with them and asking for OUR SIDE of the story to at the very least be heard is considered by them "disrespectful" and a "personal attack".

Well Mr. Fisher, and with ALL DUE RESPECT, I consider it "disrespectful" and a "personal attack" when my young U16 players up until the start of the Fourth Quarter of a game where literally "neck-to-neck" and started the said quarter ahead, are SUDDENLY MASSACRED OUT OF THE BLUE on the Court WITHOUT ANY LOGICAL REASON FOR IT (except quite clearly a YOUNG DODGY REF LAD with a demonstrable personal dislike towards my players, for WHATEVER REASON that may have been; and YOU and your "NWBA Disciplinary Committee" chaired by Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, (DESPITE the fact that he is the son of TWO of the Complainants! If that is not a conflict of Interest, then I don't know what is!) do not only REFUSE to Review what the hell happened, but you and your closely-related and close knit officials have the audacity to try and make US the villains when we have all throughout been the VICTIMS! It's nothing less than ADDING INSULT TO INJURY!!

In the course of conducting the affairs of ANY organisations there are CHECKS & BALANCES that APPLY TO ALL, YOURSELF, YOUR NWBA CHAIRMAN, THE REFS AND THE OFFICIALS, all the way up to the top, this includes Police Officers, High Court Judges and indeed Politicians and Cabinet Ministers including the Prime Minister herself, as indeed we have seen many be disciplined in the past. WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES YOU, THE NWBA CHAIRMAN, THE REFS AND THE OFFICIALS exempt of such necessary and indeed VITAL SCRUTINY!!?? Basketball Wales itself was several years ago the focus of investigation, the results of which were less than desirable, a lot of work which has since been done to overcome that unfortunate situation. What makes you think that NWBA should somehow be "beyond question", especially given the evident and irrefutable Conflicts of Interest that exist in the Committee!!??

He highlights how "If [I]you were unhappy with the Officiating during the game, {I] should have signed the scoresheet under protest immediately after the game. This was not done. [I]You could have also filed a complaint [with]the NWBA committee within 48 hours, but [I]you decided on using social media to protest the result." (sic).

Mr. Fisher, both Mr. Aled Jones - NWBA Chairman as well as his father Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones - NWBA Committee Member, are long-time Officials at NWBA.

When I put up that Post on our FB Page, which in the circumstances was actually quite polite and didn't mention any particular individual; BOTH of these individuals had the opportunity as NWBA Committee Officials to ADVISE US that we only had 48 HOURS! In fact, THIS ADVICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OFFERED AT THE END OF THE GAME ITSELF given the shambles that it was and the evident dissatisfaction and frustration that we displayed RIGHT THERE AND THEN, so we could have "signed the scoresheet under protest" as we are NOW advised.

Instead, neither of the two Refs; nor the Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones, (Ref, Mr. Arwel Jones' wife, and NWBA Chairman Mr. Aled Jones' mother; as well as NWBA Committee Member herself) felt it appropriate in the CLEARLY HIGHLY ANOMALOUS CIRCUMSTANCES to bring it to the attention of a NEW & INEXPERIENCED TEAM & COACH in as far as the NWBA "Rule Book" about Complaints is concerned, that we only had 48 hours should we wish to query that crazy fourth quarter!

Instead, they allowed us to leave frustrated with the officiating, and none the wiser, in the otherwise rather obvious and logical expectation that we would be able to Review this in our "own time", and if so required, then put a case forward.

In fact, Table Official Mrs. Iola Jones (Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones' wife; and NWBA Chairman Mr. Aled Jones' mother; and NWBA Committee Member herself, along with her husband, her son, and her son's girlfriend) not only failed to offer me as Coach the opportunity to "sign the scoresheet" (under protest or not) as we were quite conveniently LATER advised, but I was not even offered the opportunity to sign the Scoresheet at all. If you check the game's Scoresheet you will find that it is missing my signature as Coach. In fact I don't think that I have even SEEN a copy of the Scoresheet, which as we all know is the Table Official's DUTY to provide a Copy of to each team's Coach AT THE END OF THE GAME. Once again, THIS WAS NOT DONE.

Mr. Fisher - Deputy Chair NWBA also mentions that "Referees are not perfect and will make mistakes.."

I must emphasise that I MYSELF ALREADY HIGHLIGHTED THAT PREVIOUSLY in my correspondence with Mr. Aled Jones - NWBA Chairman, so there was no need for him to echo my own words.

HOWEVER, this was EVIDENTLY NOT about the ODD MIS-CALL. This WAS and REMAINS about a CLEAR PATTERN of UTTER MALPRACTICE in QUICK SUCCESSION, TOTALLY INCONSISTENT WITH THE REST OF THE GAME and HIGHLY ANOMALOUS & QUESTIONABLE to say the least!

And NO ONE, HIMSELF INCLUDED has to date agreed to even do us the basic courtesy to consider OUR SIDE OF THE STORY and the Detailed Review submitted.

Even if this were simply done not as an Official Complaint because they've totally unfairly caught us in a "technicality", but at least as a Review by the Committee, purely for the sake of due diligence given the SHOCKINGLY ANOMALOUS proceedings of the Fourth Quarter, the simple Stats alone of which cry out to be looked into.

Instead, and at every stage of this matter it has been attempted to be brushed under the carpet, with ridiculously tight deadlines arbitrarily imposed; late night email communications; undue pressure; threats involving blackmailing BCT to let this matter go; and now kicking the young lads' team out of the League because I PERSONALLY will NOT let this go without getting a fair and impartial Review of what happened in that Fourth Quarter.

The FACT remains that our young lads played an exhilarating "neck-to-neck" game and the Refereeing by young Ref. Mr. Connor Green in the Fourth Quarter thereof is quite clearly BEYOND ANOMALOUS and DRASTICALLY INCONSISTENT with the rest of the entire game.

This is INDISPUTABLE and THE STATS ALONE CRY OUT WITH IRREGULARITY! PERIOD!! However, NO ONE at NWBA has even had the basic decency to at least ACKNOWLEDGE THIS FACT.

In no instance, neither in my correspondence with Mr. Aled Jones - Chair NWBA, nor in his own correspondence (Mr. Ashley Fisher - Deputy Chair NWBA) hereunder, does ANYONE ACTUALLY ADDRESS in any detail the CLEAR EVIDENCE that we have submitted, not that the HIGHLY ANOMALOUS STATS ALONE did not already CRY-OUT with IRREGULARITY!

It is also an undeniable FACT that NWBA is run by a small group of people either closely related and/or mutually connected people, most of them for a considerable amount of time, which in any other area of life would be considered a TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE CONFLICT OF INTEREST, especially when FOUR out of these SEVEN same individuals are not only closely related, in fact members of the same family, but also have a direct hand in managing a club participating in the League/s, and therefore quite inevitably a vested interest.

NWBA is an "official" sports association and as they describe themselves in their own page a "Community organisation", in receipt of public funding. It should therefore show impartiality. However, anybody reading the exchange of correspondence between Mr. Aled Jones - current Chairman NWBA and Mr. Ashley Fisher - Deputy Chair NWBA) and myself respectively will IMMEDIATELY be able to clearly perceive the bias, undue pressure, coercion, arbitrarily imposed ridiculously short deadlines notified via late night emails, and downright attempts at blackmail and gagging. And then they dare accuse ME of "disrespect"!

All we wanted was a fair & impartial Review of the unquestionably and SCANDALOUSLY ANOMALOUS situation and proceedings that transpired throughout the ENTIRE FOURTH QUARTER of the said game in question.

Instead, the VICTIMS are not only portrayed by the NWBA "Disciplinary Committee" members chaired by Mr. Arwel Jones himself - Chair NWBA (despite that TWO of the Complainants are his own parents!) as the VILLIANS and subjected to ALL SORTS OF UNFAIR bias, undue pressure, coercion, arbitrarily imposed ridiculously short deadlines, and downright attempts at blackmail and gagging; BUT they also KICK THE YOUNG LADS' TEAM OFF THE LEAGUE because I PERSONALLY REFUSE TO and WILL NOT SUBMIT TO SUCH MONUMENTALLY UNFAIR TREATMENT, HARASSMENT & BLACKMAIL!!

In his latest email communication of Sunday 7th January 2018 sent out at 19:08 in the evening which I mention above, Mr. Ashley Fisher (currently Deputy Chair NWBA) has advised us that BANGOR CITY THUNDER U16's HAS BEEN "SUSPENDED" FROM THE LEAGUE!!

I have clearly highlighted that despite the fact that I strongly feel that WE are the VICTIMS here NOT the VILLAINS and were right from the start, and that all I did was write a Post on our FB Page reassuring BCT players, parents, families and supporters that I was going to carry out a Review of what happened and seek feedback from the Officials, which Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones decided to take personally, when it wasn't; I nonetheless, for the sake of the young lads, have formally offered the NWBA's "Disciplinary Committee" that I will resign if they kindly re-consider their position and allow the young lads' team to continue in the league and finish the season, and in my opinion most likely win it!

If the NWBA's "Disciplinary Committee's" differences are with ME, then neither I nor anybody else see any VALID reason whatsoever why the NWBA should not accept my offer to resign from my position as Coach of Bangor City Thunder u16's Team, and quite simply allow the young lads' team to continue their fantastic performance in the league.

If however, the NWBA Committee wishes to punish not me but the young lads, then my question and that of many others to them which to-date continues to remain unanswered is simple:

Why is the "Disciplinary Committee" allowing those very same players to play for "another" team???

Especially when we ALL know that the ONLY "other team" local to our players is Celts, which Mr. Aled Jones (Chair of NWBA), his father Ref. Mr. Arwel Jones (Basketball Wales Rep - NWBA), his mother Mrs. Iola Jones (Interim Treasurer & Junior CV League Manager - NWBA), and indeed even his girlfriend Ms. Lesley Broadhurst (Website & Social Media Manager - NWBA) ALL have a personal hand in running and therefore a direct vested interest in, WHILST AT THE SAME TIME NOT ONLY HOLDING KEY POSITIONS BUT IN FACT THE MAJORITY OF THE POSITIONS in the NWBA Committee (they make up FOUR out of ONLY SEVEN NWBA Committee members! - A clear conflict of interest by any standards!); a team which ALL Bangor City Thunder players have clearly and individually expressed they will NOT join in a million years!

Mr. Ashley Fisher - Deputy Chairman of the NWBA clearly highlights, and I quote: "As this is no reflection on the players, they may transfer to any other team in the league if they so desire."

Well, if that is the case Mr. Fisher, and you truly mean what you say that this is "no reflection on the players", kindly accept my offer to resign from my position at BCT in return for allowing the players to continue playing in THEIR team, under a NEW COACH; and do not penalise THEM for the differences that YOU have with ME, not them!

After discussions that I have had with individuals at the highest levels of both Basketball Wales and indeed with Sports UK; one of NWBA's most foremost objectives should be to promote basketball in North Wales, especially amongst young "grass roots" players.

At the moment, there are ONLY FIVE U16's teams participating in the NWBA League in ALL OF NORTH WALES!

Axing one of those precious few teams, especially given that until now they were doing so well and were previously undefeated; and if as Mr. Fisher and his colleagues at the NWBA claim that "this is no reflection on the players" (but instead it's on ME), furthermore when I have made and hereby confirm my offer to resign, therefore makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER to anyone and is simply plain wrong.

NO ONE, not even Senior Officials in Basketball Wales who are willing to come forward and say this officially, and even some in NWBA itself who were present at last week's NWBA meeting in Wrexham understands WHY if their decision is indeed "no reflection on the players" as they indeed claim, WHY then do they wish to axe THE PLAYERS' team off the league, if I am no longer in the picture??

This CLEAR CONTRADICTION in NWBA's decision questions their motives!

IT MAKES NO SENSE!

The BLATANT UNFAIRNESS CLEARLY EVIDENT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SITUATION has already gone as far as Basketball Wales' counterparts in New Zealand!

I quote a Comment on MY Bangor City Thunder Basketball Club - Unofficial page in response to one of my latest Updates yesterday afternoon on the development of this situation: "Disgusting. I shall share this so my friends in New Zealand can read what an incestuous committee run the league. Any updates post them I will share."

The continuation of this situation is bringing not only NWBA but the sport of basketball in Wales into disrepute!

I trust that the NWBA Committee members of which I know will read this, kindly reconsiders their position, make the right choice and do justice to THE PLAYERS on whom as THEY HAVE CLAIMED IN WRITING BLACK UPON WHITE their decision "IS NO REFLECTION UPON", and actually PROVE THIS by ACTION not merely words, and allow them to continue participating in the league playing for THEIR own team, with me resigning from my position at BCT, and this unfortunate matter can disappear from here and everywhere else, and finally be put to rest.

* I have of course a posted a Copy of this Post on other Pages and Forums, as well as kept a copy of should it be deleted by those who wish that nobody sees it and the details contained herein. If it is deleted, it will only continue to appear in more, and more, and more Pages and Forums and media. Surely, we would expect NWBA to support openness and transparency.

Bottom line is that the young lads' team should NOT be penalised for a disagreement with ME. I WILL go away and all Posts and Comments will disappear, but NOT before basic justice is shown to the young lads and they are allowed to continue playing in the League for THEIR team, as they deserve, which if they are, they will probably win, against all odds!!

Please feel free to provide your views and comments.

Thank you.
Tony Graham Seguí.