The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The busy week of activities continued yesterday as the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture paid homage to the latest additions to the Bahamas Sports Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2014, which includes 16 inductees, were special guests in the morning session of the House of Assembly on Wednesday and were treated to a luncheon by the Department of Sports.

The ministry announced the class during the National Sports Heritage Week which got started on Sunday, while the induction ceremony is slated for 7pm Friday at Government House.

The inductees, who are selected based on their contribution to the development of sports in the Bahamas, will include the following: Kevin Johnson - Athletics; Percival Andrew Knowles - Sailing/Swimming; Edith Powell - Tennis/Administration; Marina McClain - Bowling; Donnie Martinborough; Ray Minus Sr - Boxing; Harcourt Rolle - Soccer/Administration; Frederick Robert Sturrup - Journalism/Administration; Daniel Sumner - Bodybuilding and Powerlifting/Administration; Franklyn Theodore Roosevelt Sweeting - Baseball; Frederick “Chicken” Taylor - Baseball; and deceased inductees Calvin Cooper - Golf/Administration; Norris Stubbs - Athletics; Allan Jackson - Baseball/Administration; Wilfred Coakley - Boxing/Administration and Bertram Musgrove - Cycling.

The inductees were nominated by persons in the sporting community, federations and stakeholders, according to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson.

At the gathering of the inductees, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson called this year’s group, a “special class.”

“We wanted you to get together and break bread together because this is a very special group of people. You are an extremely rare breed. In the Bahamas if you think about the pedigree of individuals we have, it is so incredible that you all would shine out ahead of the pack. The highest accolade a country can bestow on someone is to display your name publicly embossed on something for your achievements,” he said.

“We at the ministry feel that is very important that we recognise and pay homage to those persons that have sacrificed and devoted a good portion of their lives to sports and its development, and by extension to the orderly development of our country. We also feel that it is very important to expose these heroes to the up and coming generation of sportsmen and women so that they may integrate some of the life skills of these persons into their lives so that their lives may be further enriched.”

A public supplement will be produced featuring the class of 2014 this morning, while Knowles and Sturrup will appear on Bahamas at Sunrise. The weekend of activities will culminate with the official induction ceremony at Government House at 6:30pm.

Prime Minister Perry Christie addressed the inductees in the House of Assembly.

“The reason why special attention ought to be paid to you is that in your contribution to the Bahamas you have impacted an immeasurable number of lives,” he said. “We must continue to get young people in this country to realise and to know that they have exemplars who are pacesetters whom they can look to as heroes in our country.”

Tim Munnings, the director of sports whose father Harold Munnings was a member of the 2013 Class, said the Hall of Fame induction is a feat to be celebrated by Bahamians of all demographics.

“Sports is one of those things that really crosses all barriers and brings everyone together. You may not have played a sport, but you know someone that played a sport, a child, grandchild some relative or some connection,” he said.

“So honouring these persons, for their contribution to national development, is fitting and should be celebrated by all.”

The National Hall of Fame was established as a means to show the country’s appreciation to those contributors to sports whose exploits may have gone unnoticed in the past and, at the same time, deliver recognition to those who continue to shine for the Bahamas.