By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s annual Youth Month celebrations in November will feature more activities throughout the country, while the National Sports awards ceremony will be postponed until January.
In a press conference on Monday, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and members of his staff launched the month of activities. Sports representatives from Grand Bahama and the Family Islands also participated via Zoom.
Coming off a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelsie Johnson, the acting director of sports, said the Ministry of Sports wants to include as much of the Family Islands in their month of celebrations as they prepare for the sixth Bahamas Games, scheduled for next year.
Using the theme: “The Awakening Power of Sports,” the Ministry will worship at Mt Tabor Full Gospel on Sunday, November 6 and they are asking the general public to come out and share in the experience.
Bowleg said during the month, they will host a number of sporting activities on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Andros and Eleuthera.
“Sports is far reaching and as we celebrate sports and those who have contributed so much to its growth and development, we hope that Bahamians across the country join us in this month and experience the true power of sports,” Bowleg said..
Each Monday over lunch, Johnson said the Ministry will include the media to sit down over lunch to discuss a number of topics regarding fitness, nutrition, injury, treatment and health. The sessions will also be carried live on Zoom.
Additionally, at least 5-10 coaches will be honoured by the Ministry. Those coaches, according to Johnson, would not have been inducted into the National Hall of Fame, but would have made significant contributions to the development of sports in the country.
This year’s National Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 6pm on Wednesday, November 16 at the Baha Mar resort. The list of inductees will be released shortly.
However, Johnson revealed that the National Sports Awards ceremony will be postponed until January because “we didn’t want to overshadow the praises that we will be bestowing on our Hall of Fame inductees.”
The Ministry also introduced some of its new sports officers, Byron Ferguson and Sadie Bowe, along with Adam Miller and Pauline Davis.
Norris Bain, the deputy director of sports in the Northern Bahamas, said there is an exciting month of activities being planned in Grand Bahama where they will be going into the schools, hosting a 3.5 mile walk/run race and a wrestling clinic.
Bain, one of the country’s top high school basketball coaches, said they will also be recognising a number of coaches on the island as well as they will honour some of the players who have enjoyed a successful collegiate volleyball and basketball season so far.
Brian Cleare, the sports officer for Andros, revealed that there are a number of activities planned, including a Sunfish sailing in Morgans Bluff on November 19, a basketball tournament in Mastic Point on November 26 and a softball tournament on November 27 in Nicholls Town.
“The president of the Mastic Point Sailing Club, Patrick Romer, will be assisting us with that,” Cleare said.
‘This past summer, we used the Sunfish Sailing as one of the youth programmes.
“We also had the Sunfish Sailing as a part of our Fun Day out on the Regatta site in North Andros and we had a number of youth who participated in that event. At the moment, we have three ladies who are now sailing solo, so we want to try and sail as often as possible to get our young people more interested in Sunfish Sailing.”
During the month, Cleare said they will also honour at least five local coaches and some of the former athletes who represented North in the Bahamas Games in the past.
He noted that their activities will be used as a tune-up for the Bahamas Games.
“At the moment, we are preparing some of the facilities here in North Andros to get us ready for the games,” Cleare said.
Jermaine Adderley, the sports officer in Long Island, said they will host a series of softball and baseball games on Friday, November 4 and on Saturday, November 5, they will join the Cancer Society of the Bahamas in a walk-a-thon.
On November 19, they will host a basketball tournament in preparation for the Bahamas Games.
During the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National All-Star Tournament on November 12, Johnson said the Ministry will play in an exhibition game with two teams formed among the staff and on November 19, they will take part in a beach volleyball tournament.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.