The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Miami Heat training camp, being hosted at the Atlantis resort, gives the Bahamas an opportunity to show the world what the Bahamas can offer with its sports tourism programme, says Greg Rolle, a representative of the Bahamas’ sports tourism marketing team in South Florida.

Mr Rolle said this camp will showcase the Bahamas as more than sun, sand and sea and is a big move in the right direction on the part of the Bahamian government.

“One of the things the Ministry of Tourism has put together is a programme where we want to tell the world about what the Bahamas has with its sports tourism programme. It’s vibrant, impactful and it’s bold.

The ministry started last year with the Super Bowl ads, telling the world that the Bahamas not only offers sun, sand and sea as a vacation destination, but we are a sports tourism destination and those are the elements that we want to put in place through this initiative,” he said.

“Booking the Heat, it’s a huge achievement and it goes back to the vision of our minister. He told me that he needed some bold initiatives mandated. At the end of the day he said he wants the world to know the Bahamas has a sports tourism initiative and right now we are intent on making that happen.”

The Heat arrived in the Bahamas last night and headed to Paradise Island to conduct two-a-day practice sessions in the Imperial Ballroom at the Atlantis Conference Centre October 1-4.

Mr Rolle said because of the relationship the Bahamas has developed with this team, they were able to share ideas and make this “rare opportunity” a reality. However, he said because it is a business trip there are limits to what can be offered to the public as well as the press.

“It’s the first time the Heat have gone internationally for a training camp, they have done a preseason game but never a training camp, so it’s a great privilege on the Bahamas. The Miami Heat has a roster of 15 players, they are bringing 20. All the coaches, all the players, all the executives. So we are going to have the entire Miami squadron here on the island,” he said.

“The main thing we want to do is make sure it is done right. The Miami Heat want to focus basically on training so this is very important to them and it is all business. If they go on to win a third straight NBA championship they will say it all started here in the Bahamas. Because of the sensitive nature of the trip, we are walking a fine line in terms of Bahamian access. But they just want to focus on training camp.

“The Miami Heat loves the Bahamas and they love the Bahamian people, but because of the added focus on the team they really want to stay focused on what they came here to do and that is train and put the final touches on preparing for the season. Perhaps another time they will come back and we can showcase the Bahamas and interact with the Bahamian people. We know this is something that they want to do.”

The Heat is slated to depart for Miami October 4 and will begin their pre-season on October 7 when they host the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Arena. Their pre-season will end on October 25 in Miami.

The Heat’s regular season is all set to open on October 29 against the Chicago Bulls in Miami televised on TNT.

Coached by Erik Spoelstra, the Heat became the sixth team in NBA history to win consecutive champions, joining the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and the Houston Rockets when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the decisive game seven in the American Airlines Arena, in Miami, Florida.

Making up the championship team were Ray Allen, Chris Andersen, Joel Anthony, Shane Battier, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard, LeBron James, James Jones, Rashad Lewis, Mike Miller, Jarvis Varnado and Dwayne Wade.

The Heat’s current roster has been changed slightly with Miller being waived via the NBA’s Amnesty provision. He’s been replaced by seven-foot center Greg Oden, who last appeared in a game during the 2009-10 season after going down with an injury. They also signed rookie forward Eric Griffin, center Justin Hamilton and guard Larry Drew II as well as reacquired the service of forward Michael Beasley, who they originally drafted in 2008.

The Heat’s camp comes just before the resort gets set to host its fourth Battle 4 Atlantis collegiate basketball tournament November 28-30.