The Tribune

TO show their appreciation for their contributions as their physical education head of department and basketball coach, CC Sweeting Senior High School is set to hold the Julie Wilson Walk Race and the Mario Bowleg All-Star Basketball Championships on Saturday, March 23.

The two events, according to principal Joan Gray, will officially kick off the celebrations for CC Sweeting’s 50th anniversary as an institution, which opened on October, 1969.

A gala banquet is also being planned for Saturday, April 27 when Gray said they will be honoured with other contributors to CC Sweeting in a more tangible way. Details of the banquet will be released shortly.

“We will honour these two icons here for their contribution to our sporting programmes here,” Gray said. “They have really helped to make our sporting programme one that we are all appreciative of.” The walk will start at 6 am on Saturday, March 23 at the CC Sweeting high School. Gray is encouraging persons to come out and participate. There is a registration fee of $20 with a t-shirt provided.

The basketball event will begin at 4 pm with a three-point shooting and slam dunk contest for all ages of persons from primary to the high school level.

That will be followed by a celebrity game at 6 pm when the bosses in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are expected to be matched against the teachers from the various high schools.

The highlight of the night will be the All-Star game between the Northern and Southern District. The coaching staff will be announced next week.

Players participating on the Northern District team will come from host CC Sweeting Cobras, CR Walker Knights, CI Gibson Rattlers and the Dame Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins.

The Southern District will feature players from the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves, CV Bethel Stingrays, Government High Magics and the RM Bailey Pacers.

Gray said they are appreciated of Bowleg’s contribution to CC Sweeting over the past ten years in the form of his energy, time, finances and coaching expertise.

She noted that under the guidance of Bowleg, the Cobras won the initial National Basketball Tournament held in Grand Bahama, as well as numerous Government Secondary Schools Sports Association, Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic and Providence Basketball Tournament titles.

Bowleg, who has officially resigned as a coach after revitalizing the Cobras’ senior boys programme into a flourishing one, said he was just delighted to have been able to assist the school from 2007-2018.

“After all of the work that you have put in, it’s good for people to recognize you for the sacrifice and time given to molding young men and women and making them better citizens and keeping them away from the social ills,” Bowleg said,.

“Some things money can’t buy. You can never buy the friendship you gain, the lives you have changed and watching the young men who have changed their lifestyles. In order to achieve anything in life, they have to strive for it and so I was glad that I was able to make a positive impact on their lives.”

Prior to going to CC Sweeting, Bowleg previously coached at St Andrew’s from 1997-2007 where he helped them to vote three Father Marcian Peters Invitational titles as well as make the playoffs in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools.