The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

WITH five days remaining until the country’s 50th year of Independence, and two days remaining until the official start of The Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games officials are making final preparations to ensure the public and athletes enjoy the celebratory sporting event.

The return of the Bahamian Olympic-style Games after two decades will see sports played across 16 sporting disciplines at 16 different locations.

With some of the sporting disciplines scheduled to run simultaneously during working hours, the local media houses will facilitate live coverage of the different sporting events to keep the public up-to-date.

Final preparations also include renovations of sporting facilities, and the accommodations of athletes commuting to New Providence.

Media Coverage

The start of The Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games will get underway this Friday starting with volleyball, baseball, soccer, and tennis in the morning sessions. The playing of the sports will be divided into a morning and evening session and so will the live coverage provided by the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.

Clint Watson, general manager of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, talked about the coverage for the sixth edition of the Bahamas Games.

“The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas is extremely pleased to partner with The Bahamas Games to provide television coverage from start to finish you will be able to tune in and watch various disciplines as you do every Olympics on NBC we are the NBC of the Bahamas Games and we will make that you are well covered,” Watson said.

ZNS will broadcast three sessions daily which starts with the morning session from 9am-1pm which will include commentary from guests. After a brief break, coverage will return for the evening session 5-7pm and the final session will run from 8-11pm.

Additionally, Cable Bahamas Ltd will be providing coverage for basketball, volleyball, and swimming across channels 212, 242, 243, and 244.

Therefore, the public can tune in starting this Friday.

Sporting Facilities

With 16 different sporting disciplines to be played across different locations in New Providence, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture Mario Bowleg thanked the various government ministries for their assistance in the preparations for the Bahamas Games’ return. “We had to bring in the Ministry of Health to ensure that we had doctors, nurses, and ambulances available to all the facilities we are playing to ensure the safety of the athletes… we also had to insure these athletes and coaches during their time of play,” Bowleg said.

He added that the Ministry of Works also played a pivotal role in helping to conduct minor and major repairs in some instances to facilities provided to the Bahamas Games by the Ministry of Education.

He also credited the National Sports Authority (NSA), Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), and the Water and Sewerage Corporation for their role in helping to bring the Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games back.

Despite some concerns about the ongoing repairs at the Baillou Hills Softball Complex ahead of the start of softball on July 11, Bowleg said the softball field will be ready to go in time for next Tuesday.

Accommodations

The Bahamas Games will feature 10 teams representing the different islands of The Bahamas. Teams from Abaco, Andros, Bimini and Berry Islands, Cat Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador, Eleuthera, Exuma, Ragged Island, Grand Bahama, Long Island, and MICAL will start their arrivals today.

The team athletes will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott and Superclub Breezes. The government of The Bahamas will provide transportation, accommodations, and meals for the teams according to the Minister.

“The government is taking care of transportation, accommodations, and meals we are ensuring that we take care of these athletes which is the most important asset of the games I want to make sure that they experience the Olympic style of competition where if we don’t qualify for the Olympics as an athlete you have an experience of it here locally in your own home,” Bowleg said.

With the countdown nearly down to zero for the looming Bahamas Games, persons are urged to purchase tickets online at www.bahamasgames.org, in person at the venues, or at Cash N’ Go locations.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for kids. The event schedule can be accessed via the aforementioned website.