The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It’s not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in the local sports scene, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK

THAT WAS

IT IS the basketball season and it’s a pity that the popular Father Marcian Peters Invitational is not a part of this year’s menu.

According to reports, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture was not able to find the necessary funding to host the tournament, which caters to the primary boys and girls, junior girls and boys, intermediate boys and senior girls.

The event should have been taking place this week at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium with teams from around the Family Islands coming to town to match up against their counter-parts from New Providence.

It has been a staple event on the local sporting calendar that it’s hard to imagine that there’s no money in the kitty to showcase the next generation of basketball stars.

So many of the Family Island teams look forward to this time of the year because at the same time that they are here for the tournament, they also get to participate in the annual Junior Junkanoo Parade that will be held on Saturday.

But while the tournament is on the shelf for this year, maybe this is a good time for the organisers to re-examine the make-up of the tournament going forth. At some point, you could have expected the organisers to run into some problems because, in the past, there have been reports of some schools violating the players’ age eligibility clause by using players that were too old.

Too many times, we have seen how some of the coaches were just not honest in selecting their teams in their bid to try to win the intermediate boys’ segment of the tournament.

Maybe this is the time for the ministry to put in some stringent rules that will ensure that the playing field is levelled and the players in the right age group get to participate.

There are a number of pre-season and mid-season tournaments for senior boys. That’s one of the reasons why the organisers focus on these particular divisions for the players to compete in.

Nevertheless, it’s still disheartening to know that there is not sufficient funding to accommodate the primary and high school teams in what has been a prestigious national tournament. Let’s just hope that it’s only on the shelf for this year and will be back in full swing next year because we can all agree with the coaches that there’s just not sufficient games during the regular season for their players.

THE WEEK

AHEAD

It’s getting close to Christmas and very few sporting bodies will be hosting any more events for the year.

Both the New Providence Basketball Association and New Providence Women’s Basketball Association will be in full gear at the AF Adderley and DW Davis Gymnasiums all during the week.

What would have been nice, especially as we gear up for the Christmas break, is to see the two bodies merge to put on a Yuletide Extravaganza where they could showcase the best-of-the-best players in a special night at one of the gyms, or event at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. It could serve as a major fundraiser for both leagues as they split the profits down the middle. I’m sure the players wouldn’t mind coming together for one big night before they break for the holidays.

It could be the start of something big for the two leagues, which had contemplated combining for their All-Star Classic last year, but it never materialised. I know it’s a long shot and a short time to think about the possibility of such a merger, but it’s just some food for thought.

RETURN OF THE

BAY STREET MILE

On Saturday morning, if you don’t have anything to do, it would be good to come out and support the Bahamas Athletic Association of Coaches as they host another edition of the once popular Bay Street Mile.

After being on a hiatus for a while, the BAAC has revived the event and now it’s starting to catch on again with more divisions being contested so that competitors from the primary to the elite level can all get a chance to compete.

It starts at 6am in front of the Straw Market on Bay Street and has turned out to be a real treat to watch the finish in front of the Bahamas Football Association’s Beach Soccer facilities near the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge.

The event comes on the heels of the two consecutive road races that the Murray clan has hosted at the Bahamas Hotrod Association facilities, including Saturday’s memorial in honour of their mother, Thelma.

If those two events are any indication of what to expect on Saturday, the Bay Street Mile should be an event that you will not want to miss.