The Tribune

IT IS 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 local sports, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK

THAT WAS

DESPITE the destruction left behind by Hurricane Matthew, it appears that the Bahamas Government is still committed to ensuring that all but one of the major sporting events on the calendar for 2017 will go on as planned.

We’ve heard how Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown aborted his plans for the third edition of his Bahamas Invitational because of the fact that he couldn’t secure the necessary funding to get out of the starting blocks with the organising of the one-day meet.

He has since taken his expertise to Grenada where he has been invited to assist in the production of their first Invitational Track and Field Classic on April 8.

This week, two major announcements were made.

The first was by the Bahamas Football Association’s Local Organising Committee on the FIBA Beach Soccer World Cup, set for April 27 to May 7.

A new $2.5 million facility is being constructed on the site of the original complex at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge, which is expected to be equipped with all of the modern amenities, including a grandstand with VIP boxes.

According to Bruce LaFluer, the project architect and a member of the LOC, the new facility will have a seating capacity of 3,097 persons, office space, locker rooms, media workstations, medical stations, support system, storage rooms, doping room and a competition control area.

While construction has already commenced by Cavalier Construction, it’s anticipated that the facility will be completed by the end of February, just in time to host the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships.

It’s a huge undertaking, but from the looks of things, it should be a fantastic complex to view as a spectator, work in as a journalist and participate in as a competitor.

Beach soccer is fast becoming one of the growing sports worldwide and with the background of Atlantis, the facility should be able to be utilised on a regular basis with more and more activities taking place, weather locally or internationally.

With the proximity to Atlantis, I’m sure that there will be a lot more interest in the use of the facility, weather it’s for practice or official games.

Once completed, the facility will also be used for the beach soccer competition for the Commonwealth Youth Games that will be held in July. So already, big plans are being made for the utilisation of the facility.

At the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Woslee Construction has already began to build the new Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium.

It’s projected to be a $21 million, 4,500-seat arena, erected east of the Government High School. When completed, it will be equipped with two auxiliary practice fields to the east of the stadium, locker rooms, meeting rooms, physical/therapy/training rooms, vendor spaces, eight luxury boxes, state of the art audio/visual scoreboard and parking.

It’s also anticipated that there will more than enough office space to accommodate both the Bahamas Baseball Association and the Bahamas Baseball Federation. 

However, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson revealed that the National Sports Authority would manage the facility, just as they do all of the others in the QESC, including the Thomas A Robinson National and Track and Field Stadiums, the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex and the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

While I understand that these are government- owned facilities and they have to put their authorities in place, it’s a pity that the governing bodies like the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, Bahamas Swimming Federation, Bahamas Basketball Federation and Bahamas Volleyball Federation are not playing a more active role.

Maybe by the time the new baseball stadium is completed by next summer, according to architect Michael Foster, both the BBA and the BBF would have ironed out their differences.

As Minister Johnson has and continues to proclaim, “baseball is back.”

And Sam Rodgers, who has replaced the late Jim Wood as the new president of the BBA, said as the governing body for the sport in the country, they’re already looking at bringing in a number of tournaments for local players to participate in at all ages.

The only problem is the BBF has all of the active players and so it will take a lot of compromising between the two bodies to ensure that the Bahamas puts its best foot forward in hosting its international guests when the new stadium is completed.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Welcome home DeAndre Ayton. The 7-foot-0, 220-pound centre is here for a two-game series with his Hillcrest Prep out of Phoenix, Arizona.

Bahamians will get a chance to see the next NBA prospect, ranked as the top high school basketball player in the United States.

Ayton, already signed to play college ball with the Arizona Wildcats next year, will bring a lot more publicity to the Bahamas in the wake of the No.6 NBA draft pick of Grand Bahamian Chavanno ‘Buddy’ Hield by the New Orleans Pelicans after a stellar four-year sting with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The ‘Sands Between Your Toes’ Basketball Showcase will pit Ayton and Hillcrest in a field of six visiting high school teams out of the United States.

One of the benefits is the fact that four local high school teams - CI Gibson Rattlers and CC Sweeting Cobras out of New Providence and Grand Bahama’s St George’s High Jaquars and Tabernacle Christian Academy Falcons - will also be on display.

There is so much talent here in the country, but as showcase organiser Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson admitted, he’s not sure if we are capable of matching up against the visiting teams, which will feature some of the top prospects behind Ayton for inclusion in the NBA draft in a year or two.

The showcase comes here just a week before the Battle 4 Atlantis.

It would have been nice on one of the nights when the Battle 4 Atlantis’ high- powered collegiate tournament is played, to have at least an All-Star high school game so that the local talent can be looked at by the visiting coaches and scouts.

If that’s not possible, maybe a deal can be struck where a showcase is held by the local teams with the coaches invited to check out the talent at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium