VICTORIA, Seychelles — Tributes have continued to pour in following the death of Terry Celeste, a former player, coach and longstanding president of the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF), whose passing was announced earlier this week. Mr Celeste, who had been unwell in recent days, is being remembered for the bold reforms he spearheaded to revitalise a sport that had long been in decline, and for the role he played in bringing Seychellois basketball back into the international fold.
Mr Celeste’s basketball journey began on the Beau Vallon court, where he played for the Beau Vallon Buccaneers under the late Clifford Joubert, a veteran coach and his own cousin. His progress through the local game eventually earned him places in the national team, before a natural move into administration. In June 2017, he was elected chairman of the SBF, succeeding Jean-Guy Alphonse, on a platform of reform and grassroots engagement. One of his earliest international highlights came in 2017, when the Seychelles Under-18 3×3 boys’ team finished as runners-up at the African Young Lions Cup, one of the sport’s few international moments in recent years.
His tenure was not without controversy. In 2018, he clashed publicly with the National Sports Council after a Seychelles Under-18 team travelled to a tournament in Qatar without the federation’s knowledge or approval, a move he said could have jeopardised the country’s standing with the International Basketball Federation. Throughout, he continued to advocate for the broader use of the Palais des Sports to ease scheduling congestion, and to push the Fiba-linked programmes such as Hoops for Health and Basketball for Good, which have continued to expand youth and community court development. Mr Celeste later took up the role of programme unit leader in the quality-of-life division, where he is credited with bringing the same passion he gave to the sport.
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