The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOR the third consecutive year, Caribbean Bottling Company Limited has teamed up with the Royal Bahamas Police Force to put on the Sprite Freestyle basketball tournament.

The aim, according to Caribbean Bottling Company Limited's marketing manager Donnisha Armbrister, is to get boys between the ages of 14 and 17 off the street during the summer and into a wholesome sporting activity, starting on Monday, July 4.

"Additionally, we want to foster a relationship between the young men and the police officers in their communities," Armbrister said. "Last year, I personally got the opportunity to spend some time watching these teams and I realised the relevance of the programme to them.

"It not only gave them something to do because they truly developed long lasting relationships with the officers who coached them and they looked up to them for guidance and mentorship."

Armbrister, however, said it was apparent that the officers who participate in the programme go beyond the call of duty and spend their personal time and resources to ensure that the young men have a productive summer.

"As a result, we realise that the financial investment we bear is just one aspect that makes this event such a success," Armbrister said. "Due to our engagement with the teams, we were able to offer two full positions to two of the young men that played on the championship team."

This year, Armbrister said they have added another incentive where they will rewarding the two young men who exemplify good character as they continue their goal in helping them to become productive men in our society.

Thanking Caribbean Bottling for their commitment, Inspector Anthony 'Cops' Rolle said the tournament has gone a long way in fulfilling the mandate of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in their interaction within the community.

"This year's tournament has a new twist to it. Unlike the past tournaments where we awarded prizes to the best teams and to the best players, this year we are giving out two special awards to the players who may not particularly score the most points and may not be able to block the most shots," he said.

"But we want to honour the two persons who exemplified good sportsmanship and good character in the tournament."

Rolle noted that starting on Monday, July 4, at the nine different parks throughout the island, games will be played in a round robin format every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

"We are encouraging members of these communities to come out and support these young men as they find something wholesome to do during this summer break," Rolle said.

The Cable Beach branch, representing the Western Division, are defending champions as they won the title over the Northeastern Division.

All of the teams will represent the nine armed force police stations.

Each team will play each team once in the round robin format and the top four teams will advance to the playoffs where first place will play fourth and second place will take on third.

Winners

The two winners will advance to the championship.

"You can't pick a clear winner because all of these guys are coming down for fun, but they want to win," Rolle said. "But this year, Coca-Cola has increased the awards and so they are bigger and better this time."

Rolle said the reason they have decided to go into each community and play is because they want to provide an opportunity for the people to come out and cheer on the players.

"If they don't have anything to do, they could end up in the wrong company and get up to mischief," Rolle said. "This is just one of the ways we have partnered with Coke to provide some wholesome activities for these young men to get involved in."