The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE relationship between the Bahamas and Holland College Hurricanes continues to foster as a talent pipeline as the latest group of recruits are making an early impact on the budding football programme in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Wayde Higgs Jr, Jamaal Darling, Xavier Hanna, Dale Pickstock and Rasean McIntosh joined the defending Atlantic Football League champions, joining a roster that includes current Bahamians Leslie Greene, Josh Bethel and Mark Barrett.

The team is in the midst of training camp and preparing to defend its league title after losing a bulk of seniors, including two time MVP Demetrius Ferguson, who is now in camp with the St Francis Xavier University X-Men.

They also lost two-time defensive MVP Marcus Dunphy, now a member of the coaching staff, lineman Owen MacWilliams, and AFL rushing title holder Dave Clark.

Higgs, a former two sport star at CC Sweeting who was a point guard on the 2007 Hugh Campbell Championship team, is a dual threat defensive back that heads the class following a stellar performance in the Commonwealth American Football League.

As a member of the V-Fusion Stingrays, Higgs was former CAFL defensive Rookie of the Year, two-time All-Bahamian, and is also a skilled return man that could help fill the void left by Ferguson in the special teams game.

Pickstock, an imposing offensive lineman, formerly with the Orry J Sands Pros, has been one of the highlight stories from Hurricanes training camp with his performances at the combine.

Hanna, who saw time at wide receiver and quarterback in the CAFL, said his time in local leagues formed a foundation he hopes to build upon in the next step of his gridiron career at Holland.

“I started playing with the Kingdom Warriors and I was coached and learned a lot from my coach Ron Wesley and Marco Moss. After playing two years I moved to the Orry J Sands Pros and learned to play and appreciate the game and my respective positions by Micheal Foster,” Hanna said. “With more knowledge of the game came more love for the game and my first year as a Hurricane and looking forward to a good year.”

The Hurricanes have looked to the Bahamas in the past to bolster its roster and continue to do so again based on the success of Ferguson and others.

In an effort to scout more Bahamian talent, the Hurricanes hosted a mini-camp in New Providence in 2010 hosted by head coach Tex MacDonald and Michael O’Grady, university vice president of innovation, enterprise and strategic development.

The vice president said the relationship between his institution and the Bahamas will continue to grow on the athletic front with the advent of the football club.

“It says a lot about how the game of football is growing in the Bahamas with the huge turnout we had today for a one-day mini-camp. The relationship between the Bahamas and Holland College began in the classroom and continues to grow with the football team,” he said.

“I’m sure a lot of the guys at the school now have told their friends back home about their success and it continues to help the programme grow by word of mouth.

“We look forward to adding new players to the Holland family and, at the same time, helping some of these young men with an opportunity at higher education.”

In 2011, Holland had a history making season en route to the AFL Championship, with just a single regular season loss tarnishing a near undefeated season.