The Tribune

By INIGO 'NAUGHTY' ZENICAZELAYA

WHILE I read Tribune Business Editor Neil Hartnell’s column, revealing the sobering fact, that Bahamian taxpayers paid $1.2m to global sporting and entertainment giant -US-based, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). And got nothing, nada, zilch, zero in return, I was dumbfounded.

Chuck Steedman, AEG’s chief operating officer, said at the time of the signing: “We hope to combine our global brand and reach with this country’s already world-class facilities, the already world-class destination that is The Bahamas and the opportunity to create and expand upon the great content that is already taking place here.”

Now it all makes sense why at the time of the signing, the Christie administration provided no details on the AEG deal, and no media questions were permitted at the press conference featuring Mr Christie and top AEG executives.

After more unearthing, the end result was AEG having a consultancy agreement to manage the National Sports Authority (NSA).

The nuts and bolts of the deal being, the overall management of the NSA, and the supposed development of a “business plan” on how to grow specific areas of the NSA. To enhance the overall product.

Yes, the same NSA which manages and operates the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre and Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

The Auditor General’s report further agreed, that none of these aforementioned objectives were ever reached.

The Auditor General’s report also found it most difficult to determine how well the contract benefitted the Bahamas because “an appropriate file was not maintained.”

Typical!!

This boo-boo deal was clearly one of many by the former government, and especially Mr Christie, who so heavily gushed and waxed poetic about the AEG deal when it was signed.

Steedman, also said : “All great things are well worth waiting for.”

We still waitin’ bro!

What amazes me is, once again political posturing and buffoonery, cost our nation more than it gained.

$1.2 million could have been used in so many different ways, in regards to the further development of youth sports, in the same complex.

Here’s six options off the top of my head.

Georgette Rolle’s 14 club golf academy, in the Sports Centre Complex.

The Bahamas Tennis Centre, also in the complex.

The reintroduction of youth basketball leagues.

The introduction of flag football and youth tackle football.

The Bahamas Boxing Association, who’s deplorable gym, is also situated on the complex.

The further development of water polo, considering a fledgling programme developed over the last seven years, now considered a powerhouse, in the region. Winning multiple gold medals through the Caribbean and the USA.

According to an article in Huffington Post, adolescents who don’t have adult supervision at least three days a week are twice as likely to hang out with gang members and three times as likely to be engaged in criminal behaviour.

Youth sport organisations that target at-risk youth in under-resourced communities, using youth sports leagues as a tool for social and community cohesion, have had phenomenal results, in deterring gang involvement and promoting positive growth in their communities.

I think that would have been, a better investment, in relation to our nation’s youth and money far better spent.

Until next week, I will leave you with this -

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. I cannot accept not trying.”

-- Michael Jordan