The Guam men's basketball team hopes to be back on court in the coming weeks, as they await the green light to resume their Asia Cup qualifying campaign.
Guam celebrate winning gold at the 2019 Pacific Games. Photo: Vinnie Wylie/RNZ Pacific
The US territory haven't played since a home loss against New Zealand 12 months ago, with further games against the Tall Blacks, Australian and Hong Kong postponed because of Covid-19.
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Plans for a week-long bubble at a military base in the Philippines fell through last month but Guam coach EJ Calvo is optimistic a resolution can be found.
"Their government decided it wasn't the right time for them to have international teams coming in," he said.
"About a month ago they pulled the plug on that and Guam vs Hong Kong got moved to the country of Bahrain where they were also hosting a bubble. Then a week ago or so Bahrain decided that Guam and Hong Kong were not going to be able to come over there and play in their bubble."
"We're hoping that by next week there will be news from FIBA regarding an upcoming bubble that can form in either the Philippines or maybe somewhere else in Asia. We understand it's unlikely we will be able to play in Australia or New Zealand this year or definitely prior to the FIBA Asia Cup (in August)."
"I'm assuming they would give us a couple of weeks advance notice to make preparations but I'm hoping it's not more than a month or two away, because you kind of lose momentum and we can build a nice strong training camp schedule to prepare."
Guam coach EJ Calvo. Photo: Vinnie Wylie/RNZ Pacific
Group C leaders New Zealand take on the the Australian Boomers in Cairns later tonight and EJ Calvo said everyone in Guam will be watching with interest.
"We've got a group chat without team and they're all excited to watch the Australia vs New Zealand game and we were just talking about it a few minutes ago. That's all we can do right now is watch the other teams play and continue getting ready," he said.
"Our players are just standing by trying to stay in shape, continue training because we were prepared for November then preparing for this week of course and then both got cancelled. So we're just going to try and keep the morale up and continue staying focused on our physical fitness until we know when we're going to compete."
Organised sport has yet to resume on Guam but EJ Calvo said their locally based players are allowed to train in small groups and have been taking regular Covid-19 tests.
"We've been trying our best to simulate competition against each other with the guys that are training. It's been tough but we've been here before and we've been doing this for most of 2020 so we're hoping sometime soon we'll be able to get more 5-on-5 reps and prepare for some big games."
About one third of Guam's first choice roster is based in the United States playing at college or in local competitions, but EJ Calvo said it will be difficult for off-shore players to make themselves available at short notice.
"We should be able to pull together at least 14 or 15 prospects that will eventually be able to commit to the roster of 12 to travel and compete for Guam."
