The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a two and a half year hiatus that was hampered by the non-payment of fees to coaches and officials, the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association is all set to resume its afterschool activities with softball and baseball as they celebrate their 30th anniversary this year.

GSSSA president Varel Davis said they agreed to start with those two sports because they were the ones that were not staged in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic halted all sporting activities in The Bahamas.

When the GSSSA start their dual sport on Monday, November 17 at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, it will bring them on par with the other major high school sporting body – the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools – who have already begun their softball season.

Davis said she’s grateful to Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Glenys Hanna-Martin for her intervention to ensure that high school sports is back in the public schools as they provide some wholesome after school sporting activities for the high school students.

“After not playing any sporting activities for the past two and a half years, we are glad that the kids can now come out and enjoy themselves,” Davis said. “Sports has been missing for so long, so we are all excited to get it up and running again.

“We’re excited to get softball and baseball started because we didn’t get to play those sports in 2020 before the pandemic hit. We have been preparing for those sports since September, so most teams are ready to go. We’re very excited to get sports up and running again.”

With the issue of non-payment of fees to the coaches and officials, Davis said it wasn’t for a lack of trying to get the matter resolved with the Ministry of Education. She noted that promises were made, but they never came to fruition.

Davis commended Hanna-Martin, who instructed her that the matter is being resolved and the monies owed will be paid in short order. She noted that they have brought the coaches and officials up to date and have advised them of the latest developments.

“We had a little issue about what sport we would start with, but we got that sorted out,” Davis said. “So the kids are excited, the coaches are excited, the officials are ready to go and so we’re just waiting to get the fans all excited about the return of high school sports in the public schools,” she noted.

“We’re happy to get things going with softball and baseball. Then we will go into cross country and then basketball before the end of the year. This is our 30th year, so we have a lot of exciting things planned for high school sports. We’re very excited and just hope everything goes well.”