The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT was a fun filled pre-Mother’s Day celebrations on Saturday as the Paradise Sports Consultants hosted an event for the family at the Tom ‘the Bird’ Grant Park tennis courts.

The newly formed organization, headed by Derron Donaldson staged a free-for-all Mother’s Day Tennis Cardio Clinic with food and drinks as well as tennis competitions for all on hand.

“Things went well. This is our first event. We partnered with the Harrold Road Tennis Club. It’s what the company is all about, parenting with the community,” Donaldson said.

“We wanted to get started with some philanthropic work and some health and wellness sessions. It wasn’t just a regular tennis clinic. They used compression balls. We gained instant success using them, so it was a lot of fun for all of the participants.”

Donaldson said they got the opportunity to partner with McKell

Bonimy, the Member of Parliament for Mt Moriah.

In hosting the event in his community, Bonimy said they get to incorporate their efforts with more people.

“What this group is doing is tremendous. We welcome this type of initiative and we hope that we can have more events of this type in the future.”

At the same time, Bonimy got to hit his tennis racket for the first time.

“The trainers were excellent. They told me what I had to do to be able to play the game,” he said. “I hope that I will be able to become a frequent tennis player especially with the tennis courts right here in our community.”

Sheila Bowleg, the president of the Harrold Road Tennis Club, said they are open to the wider community and when they got the invitation to partner with Paradise Sports Consultants, they welcomed it.

“This is an amazing event. We haven’t had anything like this, so these types of things are what we have been longing for here at the tennis center,” Bowleg said.

“Everyone wants to play, so we hope that this will be a continuous event every quarter where people can come out on a Saturday and have some good clean fun, while learning to play the game of tennis.”

Versatile player/coach Larikah Russell said she was delighted to make her contribution to the event as one of the coaches of Impact Tennis Academy, headed by Ricardo Demeritte Jr.

“This is a great effort to help celebrate Mother’s Day and to get the community more involved,” Russell said. “So I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

Still active, Russell is looking forward to playing another softball season with the Sunshine Auto Wildcats in the New Providence Softball Association. But for now, she said it was all about giving back to the community.

A special guest for the event was Carifta champion Jamiah Nabbie. She was thrilled to have received the reception she got from the persons in attendance.

“It was a great experience. They taught me how to play tennis,” Nabbie said. “I played a little bit before I got into track, so it was good to get back on the court.”

As for her new found fame she’s received, Nabbie said she is pleased to see the reception she get from the public. The Queen’s College standout said she remains humble as she looks forward to her future endeavours.

Shanton Evans got an invitation from her cousin Philip MaJort Jr and based on what she experienced, she said she will definitely continue to play tennis.

“This is my first time participating in a tennis event and I enjoyed it ten out of ten,” she stressed. “I like the interaction and the exercises. It gives you an insight of the game. It was really agood experience.”

Paradise Sports Consultants, according to Donaldson, is designed to do event marketing, sports management, sports consultants and become sports agents to represent Bahamian athletes and coaches.

“That’s why we have a legal arm of the company, a finance arm of the company and sports management in their effort to help sports all around.

“What happens to the athlete before they become a NMark Knowles, a Shunane Miller-Uibo or Steven Gardiner?” Donaldson asked. “So we want to become sports agents so that we can assist our athletes in the long run.”

Paradise Sports Consultants is expected to open their office in the very near future as they continue to reach out to corporate Bahamas to assist in the development of sports in the country.