The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S good to see that some of the prominent former sporting icons, who have excelled at the international level, are now giving back to the further growth and development of the sport.

Two of them have been criticised in the past because many people felt that they have not been able to feel the effects of softball pitcher Richard ‘the Lion-Heart’ Johnson and tennis pro Mark Knowles.

But as a credit to both of them, they have been working behind the scenes assisting as best as they can. Now they are in the forefront where persons can look at the contributions that they are making without contradiction.

Johnson, for instance, has been working with the BTC Elite Warriors as their manager in the New Providence Softball Association where they have emerged as the pennant winners and the top team to watch going into the playoffs next month.

Additionally, Johnson returned to the international scene as a coach of the men’s national team that participated in the Pan American Qualifying Tournament that was held recently in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

While the team didn’t make the playoffs, finishing with a 2-5 win-loss record, the Bahamas did qualify for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games as the top team competing from the ECAST or English-speaking Caribbean countries. During his tenure as a player, Johnson has certainly made an impact from around 1977-1998.

He’s best remembered for picking up a 2-1 victory over New Zealand as the Bahamas clinched the bronze medal in the World Fast Pitch Championships in Tacoma, Washington. In that game, the James Cistern, Eleuthera, native pitched 19 innings, giving up the lone run.

Those days have long gone, but it’s good that Johnson is giving back to the sport and will be lending his support to the NPSA when they host a series of pitching clinics, according to president Henry Dean, as they try to fill a very important void at all levels of the game.

Over the years, there are a few players who can boast of getting some pointers from Johnson in taking their game to the next level.

But now Johnson is openly giving more of his time and energy so that the critics can start to publicly see the fruits of his labour.

It’s a similar scenario with Knowles, who has had a distinguished career that has spanned from 1992 to 2016.

After earning All-American honours in both singles and doubles at UCLA, Knowles enjoyed one of the greatest runs ever as he partnered with Daniel Nestor, Mahesh Bhupathi, Brian MacPhie and Mardy Fish, combining for an impressive 744-380 win-loss record in doubles with 55 titles, including winning three of the four Grand Slams.

Although the Wimbledon title got away from his grasp in 2002, Knowles did team up with Anna-Lena Groenfeld of Germany to win the elusive crowd in mixed doubles to add to his triumphs with Nestor at the 2002 Australian Open, 2004 US Open and 2007 French Open.

Knowles can lay claim to being a part of one of the longest matches played in Wimbledon when on July 5, 2006, he and Nestor went six hours and nine minutes in a hard-fought victory.

Additionally, Knowles also had an illustrious career, posting the most total wins for the Bahamas with a 41-32 record, the most singles wins (23-25) and teamed up with legendary Roger Smith for the most doubles win with a 9-5 mark.

And he also got to represent the Bahamas at a record five Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008.

So like Johnson, it’s good to see Knowles coming to the forefront as he will direct an elite junior tennis programme for Bahamian players.

The programme will be a part of the Albany Tennis Academy that is opened and is powered by Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian tennis legend, with Grant Doyle as the director.

Beginning on Tuesday, October 3, Knowles will supervise the programme, which has been endorsed by the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association and will feature two of the top junior players in Jacobi Bain and Sydney Clarke.

It’s a great gesture by the two superstars and hopefully more Bahamians, who have been there and done that, will join Johnson and Knowles as well as Antoan Richardson, who is also giving back to baseball.

Rolle on a roll

Congrats to Waltiea Rolle, who has returned to the professional ranks where she’s suited up to play with the Endremit Gurespor of the Turkish Women’s Basketball League (TKBL).

The 6-foot-6 Rolle has endured her share of disappointments after coming out of the University of North Carolina as a legitimate prospect to make it in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

But after she broke the barrier as the first Bahamian to play in the women’s league that is the men’s equivalent to the National Basketball Association, her journey was short lived.

After she produced her second child, Rolle worked her way back into shape and now she’s on the road again. This time, she has indicated that she’s going to make the most out of it. Her goal is to eventually get back into the WNBA where she could get a chance to either play with or against Grand Bahamian Jonquel Jones, who had a sensational second year in the league and is now headed to China to play during the offseason. Hopefully at some point, the two players will come home and get a chance to team up with the women’s national team to compete in their bid to eventually get to the Olympics.

Roach power

The Roach family displayed their power over the weekend when they dominated the 5th Powerade Potcakeman Triathlon at Jaws Beach.

While Cameron Roach, one of the organisers of the event, emerged as the champion in the sprint segment, covering a 750-metre swim, 13-mile bike and three-mile run, his daughter Kami took the girls’ 10-12 sprint division and his nephew Noah won the boys’ segment of the race.

Noah, by the way, is the son of Cameron’s brother, Dorian Roach. Both Cameron and Dorian Roach were two accomplished junior swimmers and so it was good to see their children following in their footsteps as competitors to watch in the sport of triathlon.