The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the new baseball stadium now projected to be completed by the end of the year, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is partnering with a number of local companies to renovate the softball fields at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex free of charge.

Minister of Sports, Mario Bowleg, along with Greg Burrows, chairman of the National Sports Authority Board, made the announcement yesterday as the media got a first-hand view of the work that has also started and expected to be completed in the next three months.

Burrows said the intention is to have the facilities completed so that they can use it as a test run for the Bahamas Baseball Association’s Junior Nationals in June as they gear up for the staging of the Babe Ruth Caribbean Championships and Tournament in July.

In November, Burrows said Perfect Game is expected to stage a major international tournaments with about 60 teams in the new baseball national stadium, which has been given the nod from Minister of Works Alfred Sears to be completed by then at an additional cost of $31 million.

Burrows, who is responsible for the hosting of the Babe Ruth Tournament, said the NSA is getting a makeover of the facilities as they prepare for the future.

The refurbishment of the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex is just a part of the Bahamas Government’s 10-year plan to upgrade the facilities around the Bahamas, according to Bowleg.

“When we do commence play in softball and baseball, which are non-contact sports, they will be playing on facilities that are up to standard and they could appreciate it more,” said Bowleg, who noted that they hope that these sporting bodies will be back on the field in short order.

Once the fields are completed, Bowleg said they will move to the Bankers Field, where the New Providence Softball Association plays, and commence their upgrades, while doing the same at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

“We want Sports in Paradise to really be Sports in Paradise,” Bowleg pointed out. “What was stopping us in the past is obvious that some of these facilities were not up to standard. We may have a facility that we feel is up to standard, but those do not meet international standards.”

Burrows said as a part of their mandate, the NSA has the responsibility of providing the facilities in order for the Ministry of Tourism to have a product to assist them in selling the Sports in Paradise programme.

During the course of the work carried out, Burrows revealed that each of the four fields will be extended to about 300 feet wherever possible so that they can accommodate slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball as well as youth baseball.

There will also be three additional baseball fields erected between the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex and the new baseball stadium so that the players will have the additional fields to practice and play when they have their international tournaments.

“We are just trying to put it in place where the fields can be adjusted for multi-purposes whenever we need to play on it,” Burrows said.

“We went from a small dugout to a 30-feet dugout and that was decided because of the COVID-19 environment that we are in now. We want to stretch them out as much as we can.”

“In the back of the (home) plate, we will have nets, which is a modern way (of playing the games) with the backdrop and we are having a low wall for the advertisement. We are going with a six-feet fence instead of the eight-feet fence. I think you will see a total, prettier, nicer modern softball/baseball complex.”

Additionally, Burrows revealed that the bathroom facilities will be refurbished with the view of further extending them in the future. As for the spectators’ area, Burrows said each field will have its own mounted bleacher platform.

And like they do at various international stadiums, Burrows said they will eliminate the scorers’ booth and replace them with removeable chairs and tents. Likewise, there will be some provisions made for the concession stand, but nothing compared to what was in place in the past.

Most of the work is being done free of charge by a number of local companies.

Bommer George Trucking Service, according to owner and philanthropist George ‘Bommer George’ Armbrister, will provide all of the heavy trucking equipment in their continued way of assisting sports, especially softball, in whatever way they could.

“When Mr Burrows contacted me, I volunteered to assist them by ensuring that the fencing is installed properly,” said veteran women’s basketball coach Anthony Swaby, owner of Reliable Fencing.

“My mom used to say if you walk around with your hands closed, you can’t ever get anything. So this is just our way of giving back.”

Steven Morley, proprietor of Island Trucking and Heavy Equipment Limited, will be working to assist with any heavy duty lifting that they need. But as they move forward, Morley said they will continue to assist the project to its completion.

And former basketball player Gerard Rolle said his company, Caribbean Plumbing, will be providing a pumping system that will enable the operators of the facilities to have a sprinkler system in place that will keep the fields properly watered as they are manicured before and after the games played.

As a sidebar to the facilities, Bowleg said he’s looking forward to the schools resuming competition in sports like softball, baseball, tennis, swimming, track and field and golf where there’s minimum contact.

“If the kids can go to the movies, if they can go to church and now they can go back to school, once we put in the necessary health protocols in place, there’s no reason why they can’t play,” said Bowleg, noting that they are doing it all over the world.

“We are giving tests free now, so kids can register, take the test, come to the game and if they are negative, they should be allowed to play. We have to get sports up and running. We have to get back to some sort of normalcy.”