The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ONE Bahamian has become a bonafide star student athlete for one of Canada’s most prestigious private boarding and day university preparatory schools and he continues to make his mark during senior year.

Shamar Burrows was named the First Boy’s Basketball team captain for the Ridley Tigers in St Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada and was recently profiled as one of its top students as a prefect.

Along with fellow Bahamian Livingston Bromwell, both former students at Noble Preparatory Academy helped to lead the Tigers to their first provincial title in school history when they won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Class A boys basketball championship.

Burrows was a beneficiary of the exchange programme between NPA and Ridley College.

“My greatest accomplishment thus far at Ridley was being selected as school prefect and also winning the first ever OFSAA ‘A’ Basketball Championship for the first time in Ridley history with an unbelievable group of teammates and coaching staff,” Burrows said.

“The decision to attend Ridley was a collective group decision between my family members and I. Ridley was chosen because of the high standard of education, large sporting background, and mainly the quality of the school. It has diversification between different cultures. This allows students to bond and grasp a better understanding between self-culture and outside cultures. Ridley offered different facilities, a unique experience and exposure to a variety of programmes. Lastly, Ridley is an elite school that assists, guides, and prepares students for university and the real world.”

During his three-year tenure at Ridley, Burrows said he has matured as a player, student and person.

“Ridley has prepared me academically, socially, and mentally for the real world. This is because the Ridley College community is a very social environment, which helps with your social skills in a formal and informal way,” he said. “Academically, because of the different rigorous courses, the responsibility to research, study, and take on tasks independently or even sometimes with fellow classmates. Lastly mentally, because of the Ridley guidance team, which enlightens students in many different areas for future goals, plans, and decisions.”

Twice a member of the Bahamian junior national team while a student at NPA, Burrows said the institution prepared him to face the challenges of advancing in his scholastic career.

“My parents and I knew that I was prepared to attend Ridley College, and make the next big step in my life as a growing teen, but there are always some obstacles to face, even when you feel most prepared,” he said. “Some of these obstacles were leaving family and friends behind in Nassau, Bahamas, seeking new opportunities and creating new friends, also making tough decisions on my own without mom or dad being by my side making the decisions for me. My greatest challenge at Ridley thus far has been, possibly, time management. This is because of travelling to different places for basketball, staying on top of assignments, and preparing for quizzes and tests.

Burrows has already begun to field scholarship offers from universities in both the United States and Canada.

As for his senior season with the Tigers, he looks to build on the success of the team’s historic season last year which not only included the OFSAA ‘A’ but an appearance in the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association (CISAA) title game.