The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NEWLY elected Bahamas Baseball Association president Clarence ‘GJ’ McKenzie has already started to make an impact on the Family Island Associations with the view of increasing the participation of the Junior National Baseball Championships.

McKenzie, who was elected in, visited Long Island where he conducted a clinic on Friday night on Miller’s Park before participating in the opening ceremonies for the Long Island Baseball Association’s junior league on Saturday. 

After the players were escorted through the community in a motorcade, the teams were paraded to the official opening ceremonies where they heard remarks from league president Shannen Jones, Island Administrator Jandilee Archer and McKenzie.

“I saw a lot of potential. I was really happy to see the community and the crowd of people who came out,” McKenzie said. “They had kids as young as three years old competing in tee-ball and they know what to do, very athletic.

“They just need to make sure that the fundamentals are taught there. They could use some more males to come out and assist, but they have a very solid organization there. Thery work very well together.”

McKenzie said the BBA plan on assisting Cat Island and Bimini and the Berry Islands in their bid to get their programme up to speed. 

In his remarks, McKenzie assured the league of the BBA’s continued support and announced a series of family island tournaments that includes Long Island hosting the BBA’s 10-and-under Family Island mini-tournament from March 21-23 at the park.  

“We are sending out the information for teams to confirm they are willing to compete in the tournament,” McKenzie said. “We plan to do several Family Island tournaments prior to the nationals in Grand Bahama.

“We are looking at having the co-pitch tournament in Andros, the 11-12 in Eleuthera and the 13-14 in Abaco. Long Island will get the 9-10 or 10u,” he said. 

He noted that over 100 visitors including teams from various leagues in the country are expected to travel to the island for this tournament.  The leagues were also invited to participate in the upcoming Bahamas Baseball Championships in June in Grand Bahama.