The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

One of the leading sporting organisations in the country, the Bahamas Olympic Committee, saw fit to open the year with a thanksgiving service aimed at showcasing the ties between sports and religion.

Hosted at the New Covenant Baptist Church, the BOC sought to begin a year of “great growth and achievement for sports in the Bahamas,” according to BOC president Wellington Miller.

“It is certainly historic for us in the sporting movement in The Bahamas, where we can come together and give God thanks and ask for his blessings and guidance for another year,” he said.

When he addressed the congregation, Miller said sports can be one of the solutions to the many social ills plaguing the Bahamas.

“Sports, faith and prayer go well together on the field of play. One of the characteristics of sports is the faith to know that endurance is a necessary part of final victory. That is the same thing about your faith in God. You must endure many trials and tribulations in order to receive your heavenly crown. And sports is good practice,” Miller said.

“Sports is also a good medicine for the sickness of crime that troubles us right now in this country. I have made the point to our leaders in government to invite members of the sporting community to help share our ideas in the battle against crime. I am overwhelmed and strongly convinced beyond a shadow of any doubt that we can bring peace through sports. Sports has all the mechanisms: excellence, respect and friendship. We can visually show you and tell you about persons who have become successful because of sports in our country.”

Scores of student athletes attended the service along with various school teams, sporting clubs and civic organisations.

“Every day, many of us in sports see how the benefits of these activities can change a person’s mind and give him or her good feelings about themselves and the self-respect to resist the ways of crime. Through sports, many people have obtained an education and returned to The Bahamas to contribute in a major way to our society,” he said.

“I want to thank all of you who take the time and give your resources to help develop young people through sports and speak positive thoughts into their minds, giving them the confidence to believe that whatever they put their minds to, they can achieve. Let me encourage you to continue to participate and take part in the positive things around you. You are a winner, just for having taken part. We look forward to positive contributions from everyone here toward you achieving your dreams in life, beginning or rededicating in 2014.

Trajean Jadorett, senior pastor at New Covenant Baptist, applauded the BOC for their representation of the Bahamas and foresight to put God first as they head into a new sporting year.

“The BOC is an organisation I believe has been run in the last couple years with surgeon-sturdy hands. The integrity is beyond reproach. The level of excellence this committee has shown to the world must have made the Bahamas proud,” he said.

“Whenever we are embarking on any endeavour, I believe we should put God first and this is exactly what is being done. We are putting God first so that God can speak to and through us that we might again say something to the nation that would help us look at things in a more profound way in the sporting arena. This organisation deserves a load of gratitude from the Bahamas for the kind of work they have done.”