The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TWO Bahamian softball icons are set to be added to the list of World Baseball Softball Confederation Softball Hall of Fame inductees.

Burket Dorsett (administrator) and Godfrey Burnside (coach) will be officially inducted in a ceremony hosted April 5 at Government House.

The pair were elected along with 12 others from around the world at the 2017 edition of the WBSC Congress, hosted last October in Botswana, Africa.

Their selection brings the total number of Bahamian inductees in the organisation to 18.

“WBSC welcomes these new Softball Hall of Fame inductees and their home federations for helping to shape history and our sport,” said newly elected WBSC Softball Chairman Tommy Velazquez.

“WBSC Softball Hall of Fame members represent not only years of the highest excellence on the international stage, but also years of service and dedication to building our global sport. Special thanks go to the Softball Hall of Fame Commission for their diligent selection of these legends.”

Dorsett has been an administrator for over three decades and currently serves as president of the English Caribbean Amateur Softball Confederation. His list of accolades includes president of the Bahamas Government Departmental Softball Association, New Providence Softball Association and Bahamas Softball Federation.

Burnside, the immediate past president of the New Providence Softball Association, has served as a BSF executive and is a long-time manager/coach of the men’s national softball teams.

He was a member of the coaching staff of the Bahamas’ historic appearance at the 1981 World Games when the women finished with a bronze medal.

As of the most recent elections, there are now 226 members in the World Softball Hall of Fame, representing 35 countries.

The Softball Hall of Fame was established in 1981 and inducts new members every two years.

In 1987, Leon Knowles was the first Bahamian elected to the Hall of Fame. He was followed by Churchill Knowles Tener in 1991, Neko Grant in 1997 and Arthur Thompson in 2001.

The Bahamas saw multiple inductees for the first time in 2003 with Douggy Smith, Sidney Fernander and Greg Christie.

Candice GeGregory Culmer, Richard Johnson, Austin Knowles and Godfrey Pinder were elected in 2007 followed by Naomi Ellis in 2009. Ali Culmer and Linda Ford were elected in 2011 followed by Rommel Knowles and Oria Wood-Knowles in 2013.

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland the WBSC is the world governing body for baseball and softball.

WBSC has 208 national federation and associate members in 135 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide every year.