The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

EACH fall, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture honours the country’s top sporting icons of the past and present during National Sports Heritage Week.

In 2015, the traditional celebration will feature a stacked calendar of events, highlighted by the induction of 15 new members to the National Sports Hall of Fame. The new class will bring the total number of athletes and contributors in the hall to 131. The group will be officially inducted in a ceremony hosted at Government House on November 19.

The inductees include Sidney Outten (baseball), Just Lundy (athletics), Shonel Ferguson (athletics), Oralee Fowler (athletics), Linda Woodside-Major (athletics), Leslie Miller (athletics), Neville Wisdom (administration), Jim Duncombe (golf) and an additional five posthumous honours, including Hubert Dean (sports journalism), Kenneth Francis (sports administration), Anthony Bostwick (baseball/basketball), Mizpah Archer (bowling) and Kenneth Rolle (sailing).

Prior to the induction, the group is scheduled to pay a courtesy call at Government House on November 16, followed by a full island tour on November 17, visiting the House of Assembly on November 18.

Sports Heritage Week originally began in 1989 with the introduction of five of our national heroes - the late great Thomas A Robinson, Sir Durward Knowles, Cecil Cooke, Andre Rodgers and Everette “Elisha Obed” Ferguson.

The Class of 2014 included 16 inductees, following the record number 21 inducted in 2013.

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.

“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,” Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson said. “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. The National Sports Heritage Week represents another opportunity for the government to formally recognise outstanding Bahamian athletes, whose achievements may have gone unnoticed, show appreciation to athletes who continue to shine and also encourage younger athletes aspiring to excellence in sports,”

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, present day sports icons will have an opportunity to be recognised with a concert-styled awards ceremony modelled closely after ESPNs “ESPY Awards.”

The selection committee and members of the media will vote on a myriad of awards honouring teams, individuals, performances, coaches and federations.

In addition to Sports Heritage Week, the month of November will also include a National Sports Conclave, on the 5-6, at a venue to be named later.

The conclave is an effort to unite and develop the sporting community through a cross-section of ideas, by gathering the most influential persons within the demographic. It is designed to share knowledge between sporting organisations, sporting stakeholders, athletes and all sporting enthusiasts.