The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE emphasis, as always, will be on providing an alternative activity for young men to do rather than getting involved in crime as Youth Against Violence and The Hope Centre stage another version of the Peace on da Street Basketball Classic.

This year’s classic will take a slight different format from last year with the opening day staged at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium on Monday, August 1. However, from Tuesday to Thursday, the games will be played on the outdoor courts just recently completed at The Hope Center. Then the final night of competition will return to the KGLI Gymnasium on Friday, August 5.

Still using the theme: “Shooting Hoops Instead of Guns,” organiser Carlos Reid said they refuse to sit idly by on the sidelines and hope that things will get better because the reality is that it won’t until every law abiding citizen of the Bahamas comes up with solutions. “Gone are the days when we rely on the government to solve all of our problems, even the Police,” Reid said. “The reality is no government, no Police, no other organisation can solve this problem, manage this problem without the support of the general public.”

Reid, a reformed gang leader now an ordained minister of the gospel and apostle of The Hope Centre, said that is why they have agreed to continue to put on the tournament, getting all of the entities in the country involved in the staging of the biggest local basketball event.

The games will begin 10am on Monday with eight teams participating in four divisions. Their elimination process will continue 5pm daily at The Hope Center. Then on the final day of competition on Friday, August 5, dubbed “Family Night,” the championship games will be played, starting at 5pm, along with the Pastors versus the Politicians game, the Sunshine Auto Slam Dunk and the Rubis Three-Point Shootout.

Bahamas First is sponsoring the 13-and-under division; Negril Café is sponsoring the 16-and-under, Vitamalt the 19-and-under, Kingdom Summit the Church division and CTI Cellular are the sponsors of the men’s open division. All of the divisions will comprise of the first eight teams registered to participate.

Reach Out Ministries out of Grand Bahama have already booked their spots as they are coming to defend their titles in the 13-and-under and 19-andunder divisions and they are expected to be joined by a few other teams from Grand Bahama and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“We are also looking for a lot of our college players to come out and showcase their skills,” Reid said. “This tournament always attracts college coaches and we are expecting them as well with the hopes of giving our young men the opportunity to further their studies in the United States.” 

Since including the game in their line-up, Reid said the Politicians have never defeated the Pastors and they don’t expect the streak to stop, despite the fact that they will be without their big centre, Bishop Delton Fernander. He said the Politicians feel like they have assembled a team that should turn the tables as they set the stage for the General Elections in 2017.

As for the Slam Dunk competition, Reid said ‘The Worm,’ coming out of the United States, has promised to return to defend his title against local players like Able Joseph.

Deanza Cox said the combination of the biggest basketball tournament and the best car dealership to get all of the finest cars and accessories could not have had a better merger.

“Peace on da Street is an organisation led by Apostle Carlos Reid, who is doing a very good job with the youths and adults,” he said.

“He supports the building of young men and women and we support the same. Our motto is God first and anything to do with God, I’m touched. So when he came to me and said he wanted me to be a a part of it, I had no problem or reservations. Sunshine Auto is a company who believes in young people and we put God first.”

Ian Antonio of CTI said they are delighted to be making their contribution to the tournament again this year.

“We want to help the youth to grow socially and so we thank Pastor Reid for allowing us to be a part of this great programme,” Antonio stated.

This year, Reid said they have been able to change the uniforms that all of the players will be wearing to the j-fit high qualify shirts with the logo electronically placed on the front and the numbers on the back.

“We want to be able to promote Peace on da Street beyond the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium or The Hope Centre,” Reid said. “We want all the players whether they go to be able to wear this shirt to promote Peace on da Street and our slogan. which is ‘Shooting Hoops instead of guns.’”

 Reid said they could not pull off the tournament without the support of the many sponsors who continue to assist them every year. The list includes Rubis Bahamas Limited, CTI Cellular, Sunshine Auto Sales, Bahamas First, Vitamalt, Nygril Café, Wong’s Rubber Stamp. Micronet, Home Fabrics, Sarkis Izmirilian, British Colonial Hilton, Bahama Breeze, Cable Cares, Royal Bank of Canada, Oh Andros Restaurant, Commonwealth Bank ,Jones Communication Network, Atlantis, Royal Star Assurance, JS Johnson, More 94 FM, Three Light Entertainment, Caribbean Bottling Company, Bahamasair, Destinations, The Sports Center, Original Patties, The Lyford Cay Club, The Nassau Motor Company, Janell Enterprises, Custom Computers, Island FM, ZNS, The Tribune, Nassau Guardian, Sports Radio.

He also mentioned the Island Site Development, Bahamas Hot Mix, Glinton Trucking and Backhoe Services, Bahamas Stripping and All Purpose Steel for the role they all played in putting up the outdoor basketball courts at The Hope Centre.

“Those courts that we are doing, goes beyond Peace on da Street,” Reid stated. “In September, we will be starting a Sports Academy where we want to assist young people where we will assist them with their grade point averages and hopefully create some opportunities and open some doors for them to go to the United States to use their talents to go some places.”