The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AMERICAN football continues to grow in popularity in the Bahamas and now the government seeks to facilitate that growth and provide a permanent home for the sport.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson, along with representatives from the National Sports Authority and the Bahamas Flag Football League, revealed plans yesterday for the development of an open football field complex at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.

The initial design of the complex will feature four fields with the possible addition to expand to six should the demand rise for the use of the facility.

Dr Johnson said the country has been talking about getting football at a high level in the Bahamas for quite some time, broke the mild with hosting the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl and look to now focus on the development of local leagues as a part of the wider sports tourism model.

“We are in the business of sports and to do this at the level we want to do it, we need to attain critical mass. We need state-of-the-art premises, we need enough people using our premises and we need the federation involved with the revenue. We need them involved with international events because we know we have the benefit of hundreds of people coming to play, and they bring revenue along with them, but we want the federations to participate in a formula with the sports authority that they make revenue off of their tournaments, events and regular season play as well.”

He said that the organisations are already garnering corporate sponsorship, looking to partner and take advantage of advertising opportunities.

“We are trying to partner with people in the community. Anyone who wants their name on the field, you want your name up in lights. Environmental organisations who want to make a statement about what is happening in this park, we want you to partner with us,” he said. “We are off to a great start. About 60 per cent of this master plan for this park has been completed. We have the tennis in, hot rod racing, the best track in the whole region, we are going to open the golf course at the end of the year, we will start baseball in a few weeks where you will see the stadium going up, we have softball down the strip. This addition again puts us in the category of sports tourism, where we can host international tournaments of junior leagues, high school leagues and college leagues of all the grass sports.”

Senator Greg Burrows and NSA chairman Leroy Archer noted the specifications of the complex.

Burrows said: “We already have four fields laid out with the ability to add two more. What the six fields does is give organisations like flag football, youth soccer, and tackle football the ability to host tournaments. It will give all of the grass sports, the open space sports an opportunity to play and host. This is the first phase. It will include a concession stand, bathrooms and bleachers.”

Archer said: “Around the bleachers we want to make sure we have storage for the athletes and if we have enough funding we want to establish a gym and shower facilities.”

One of the most prominent leagues to occupy the field will be the BFFL which has grown exponentially in its brief seven-year existence.

The league relocated last season from the Winton Rugby Centre to the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

League president Jayson Clarke said he expects the league’s growth to continue once the new complex is completed.

“We’re really excited about what’s happening with the complex,” he said. “I know a couple of months ago when Senator Burrows had asked us to move from Winton this is one of the promises that were made and I’m happy about the progress that has been happening thus far.”

According to Clarke, leagues in the United States have already expressed interest in visiting to compete in flag football tournaments.

“We have been in some talks with folks in Florida that have been interested in doing a tournament here with 30 or 40 teams, but the requirement is to be able to do it in two days’ time so there’s a need for a minimum of four fields,” he said. “It will provide greater growth development and visibility of the sport.”

At the local level, BFFL public relations officer Bianca Lee said the complex will be vital in the game’s expansion with a youth movement.

“We are looking into getting a youth league started. We want to get it into the schools. We want to get the young ones out here with something they can use that will be exciting for them and fun for them. The kids that come out to the field always have a great time watching their mom and dads play so I’m sure they will look forward to their opportunity on the field.”