The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Beginning tonight, the local governing body for softball gears up for the climax of the Bahamas Softball Federation (BSF) season.

The BSF National Round Robin is scheduled to return to New Providence November 1-4 at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex to decide the best men’s and women’s team from the various member federations throughout the country.

The round robin will be dubbed “The President’s Cup” in celebration of the BSF’s 40th anniversary, and pays homage to the leader of each federation, including Michael Moss, Austin Knowles, Churchill Knowles, Neko Grant, Greg Christie, Romell Knowles and current president Burket Dorsett.

The 2012 edition is expected to have the largest fields ever in the history of the Bahamas Softball Federation National Round Robin.

The BSF is playing host to 11 teams from around the country - five men and five women squads.

Associations being represented on the men’s side are Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama, Spanish Wells, Exuma and New Providence.

On the women’s side, Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama, Spanish Wells, Exuma and New Providence will vie for the title.

“The men’s division is going to be extremely tough. Its been a very competitive year throughout in each of the member federation leagues, so it is going to be difficult and tough to predict what is going to happen outright. In fact, you can’t pick a clear cut winner based on the level of play we saw throughout the country,” BSF president Burket Dorsett said.

“The women’s division, I think that is going to be an open one. You have the top teams who people have expected to see in the finals the past few years out of Grand Bahama and New Providence, but anything can happen in these games.”

In 2011, the US Gold Panthers out of Grand Bahama won the men’s title, while the Proper Care Pool Lady Sharks out of New Providence won the women’s crown.

Dorsett noted that the first year of his administration’s term will be an important year for the BSF, featuring the largest national round robin to date as a part of the federation’s 40th anniversary.

“The federation this year released a six-point plan for the development of softball throughout the Bahamas. We are responsible for all aspects of softball, fast pitch, slow pitch, and modified pitch and the plan is inclusive of helping administrators and the running of the various associations, proper public relations and communications, technical development of the sport, that is the training of the coaches and athletes, the administration aspect of it, and to maintain and improve a relationship with the ISF,” he said. “And hosting the biggest event of the year, the Round Robin is a very important part of that mandate.”

The BSF recently hosted another one of its major events last weekend with the Austin ‘King Snake’ Knowles Invitational Softball Championship for senior girls and boys.

The CV Bethel Stingrays took the boys’ title over the Spanish Wells Bulldogs 13-9 while, in the senior girls’ division, the North Andros Seminoles also defeated the Bulldogs 14-1.