D-Up Academy takes Region three/Essequibo basketball to the CaribbeanKaieteur Sports – The D-Up Basketball Academy is steadily carving out a name for itself on the local basketball landscape, and despite operating without major financial backing, the academy continues to make strides under the leadership of Chairman and Head Coach Anthony Kandar. That vision will receive another major boost later this month when D-Up makes its international debut at the 2026 Invitational Aloysius Daniel Basketball Youth Classic in Castries, St Lucia, from August 17-22. At least 11 countries have indicated their participation, with teams from Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, host St Lucia and England expected to feature. “Though it has been a tough process in selecting players, these players would have been selected from our two-month School Basketball Jamboree programme where several schools would have competed,” he explained. “We at D-Up Basketball are continuing to build fundamental skills, teamwork, having fun and giving our players international exposure,” Kandar said.