The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER the 2015 World Baseball Challenge was called off in the late planning stages due to a lack of sponsorship, the Bahamas has been one of several teams to confirm their attendance at the 2016 event.

Thus far, the Bahamas, Japan and “Sidearm Nation,” a club team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada have confirmed their participation in the 2016 WBC, hosted August 12-20 at Citizen Field in Prince George, British Colombia, Canada.

Organiser Rick Pattie said additional teams will be added to the group play as planning continues.

“I can tell you we are negotiating with a collegiate team from the United States, we’re still hopeful Cuba will come on board, they may be looking towards another programme and may not be available. The other option could be a BC representative.”

With scores of Bahamian baseball talent flourishing at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, the Bahamas will look to make its return to the international baseball arena.

The World Baseball Challenge was founded in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada, in 2002. The event, which shifted to a bi-annual tournament in 2009, is sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, Baseball Canada and Baseball B.C.

The last time the Bahamas had a true representation of a national team was under the federation at the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, Canada, in 2011 when the Bahamas all-based collegiate national team, managed by Bertram Murray Jr, beat China 6-5.

The other major tournament where the Bahamas had some success in recent times was in 2006 at the World University Games in Havana, Cuba, when the national college team, behind pitcher Neil Forsythe, defeated the Cuban collegiate national team.

The country’s leaders at the pro level, Antoan Richardson and Albert Cartwright, competed in the World Baseball Classic in 2012, albeit for Great Britain - due to the logistical loophole of their parents being born in a British colony before the Bahamas gained independence.

As they prepared for the tournament, Richardson was vocal on the need for the Bahamas to re-establish the game at the senior level so that the Bahamas would be able to field their own teams on a consistent basis in international events.

“There’s nothing more than we would love than to suit up in the aquamarine, gold and black but right now we are not afforded that opportunity because back home the game is not organised at the senior level. We have a thriving junior programme and a deep talent pool of college players, but for this tournament we will need senior players,” he said. “That is why it is important to get the older guys playing back home. Baseball needs a home in the Bahamas and the game needs to be played at a higher level if we want to compete on the international stage.”

The national team process is expected to improve since the Bahamas Baseball Association (BBA) and the Bahamas Baseball Federation (BBF) signed an agreement last October to resolve the longstanding dispute between the two organisations.

The BBA will remain the authority for the sport throughout the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the BBF will join forces on the selection of the national teams to compete at world-level tournaments that are ratified by the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

The field of participants for the event typically consists of amateur or semi-pro level competitors.