The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Carlton E Francis Rockets Primary School girls’ basketball programme continues to roll under head coach Sherman Smith.

Smith and his talented group claimed their third tournament title of the season this weekend when they won their respective division at the 29th Father Marcian Peters tournament.

They won the primary girls’ division with a 10-3 win over the Temple Christian Suns at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

In October, the team captured the 5th edition of Temple Christian Suns Primary School basketball tournament. 

At the end of the week-long tournament, the Rockets routed the Suns 15-4 to clinch their first title in the brief history of the event.

In late November, the Rockets also claimed the championship title in the 11th annual Primary Youth Community Development tournament, presented by the Mailboat Cybots basketball club.

The Rockets fell short in just one tournament, at the beginning of November, when they finished as runners-up in the third annual Bahamas Gold Trading Temple Christian Primary Schools Basketball Tournament. They lost 43-41 to the Suns in the championship game.

“For our girls we are very excited for them because the growth this programme has made over the last five years has been tremendous. This was the first year that they were able to win a championship playing against the government and private schools so it means something very special to the players, to me as a coach and to the entire school,” Smith said.

Smith previously served as a volunteer for more than a decade until the Ministry of Education made him a permanent member of staff as a physical education teacher.

“We have practice at least four times a week and we come back on Saturday and we have a lot of our former students who come back and help me work with the teams. Our girls play from April. That is when they really get started. They work for a few months then I host my camp in the summer. Last year we played in seven tournaments and I always look for that number to go up to get them as much playing time as possible,” Smith said. 

He credited the balance of his squad which commonly receives  top performances from each of his team leaders - Takeia Ferlin, Kevinique Davis and Brinique Allen.

Smith said a lot of credit must be given to Norleen Henfield, who works diligently with him, as well as Garvin Clarke, who assists him in the various tournaments. 

He also said they could not have done it without the tremendous support from the administration and staff at Carlton E Francis as well as the parents.