The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

AN exciting alliance between Reloaded Baseball and International Elite Sports Academy (IElite) has been sealed as both entities shook hands on the development of youth baseball players across the archipelago.

Reloaded Baseball is a new development programme with the sole interest of developing youth in baseball fundamentals and skill set.

Started by a group of coaches/parents, Reloaded seeks to help develop kids with sound baseball skills and on the field intelligence.

As a unit, Reloaded Baseball embraces opportunities to take its non- profit programme to the next level, therefore forging an alliance with IElite was strategic according to Peron Burnside, executive team member of Reloaded.

“We are proud to announce, as we pursue to take our kids to international standards, a strategic partnership with The IElite Baseball Academy whose qualifications and expertise in the baseball arena places them on par, and above par with some, in baseball development internationally.

“We are excited for our kids as, with the IElite team on board, we can fine tune our programme to further enhance the development of the kids in the programme. We are confident in what the two programmes stand on and are excited to see how our children can develop and play at standards we have witnessed throughout the US and Caribbean.”

As for Geron Sands, co-founder of IElite, he too is looking forward to what will birth from this alliance.

“International Elite Sports Academy (IElite) is proud to support the development of baseball in the Bahamas. We are excited to work along with the Reloaded programme to build and develop as many kids as possible.

“Our goal is to help as many Bahamian kids achieve higher education through sports. We also believe now is the time to move to the next level.

Mr Burnside previously shared with Tribune Sports that the Reloaded programme came about after attending a PG Tournament (Orlando) in the summer of 2022 and noticing the disparity in skill level between Bahamian youth ball players and their international counterparts.

A few coaches, he said, made a conscious decision to chart the way forward in the fundamental development of our kids.

Since September 2022 that programme has hit the ground running, creating opportunities for local training and local competitive play.

Just recently, Reloaded hosted its inaugural invitational tournament from March 31 to April 2 that saw teams from the Family Islands travel to Nassau for friendly match-ups. The event, Mr Burnside said, turned out to be an overwhelming success.

“We were able to host, through a collaborative effort, Troy Feaste and team (AYBL Warriors Legends) out of Abaco, Oscar Greene and team (Grand Bahama Youth Baseball) out of Grand Bahama and Elline Sineus and team (Twin City Legends) out of Eleuthera. We were able to come together in pursuit of baseball development and were also able to have conversations as to how to chart the way forward in regards to our baseball development journey,” he said.

Once the tournament wrapped up, the Reloaded team met with coaches from each island for feedback on the tournament experience.

“We have also engaged each team that participated in the tournament to see how we can assist them with some of their needs whether it be equipment, and in one instance a much-needed mound, and with arranging to have training clinics on their respective islands.

“The Reloaded development programme has only been in existence from September of 2022 and we are moving at a swift rate to develop and take our kids to international standards.”

Reloaded has started to assist with enhancing one of the fields at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex with soil. Plans are also underway to build a batting cage and bullpen with a focus on assisting in development for all.

Coach OJ Green, who travelled along with his team to Nassau, hailed the experience.

“It was a pleasure to be a part of The Reloaded Baseball Tournament. The athletes were excited to travel and enjoyed the entire experience of the tournament.

“We were happy to see that the rules of the tournament fostered development, primarily the pitchers. We look forward to future stagings of this event.”

As for coach Troy Feaste, who led the Abaco team to Nassau, he is looking forward to engaging with like-minded entities that can help develop baseball on the island. “The interaction between coaches from the various islands was very memorable to say the least, because coaches were very helpful sharing their experience and knowledge giving out pointers to the kids from other programmes like Abaco. It was less about the competition but more about the growth and development of the kids. It gave me a sense of ‘man I want to be a part of this organisation’ so that the children in Abaco would benefit from the opportunities in baseball.

“Since the genesis of the Abaco Youth Baseball League in 2018, our goal has always been about development of the people in particular the kids, the coaches and volunteers that contribute to the growth and development of our league, “ he said.

Reloaded Baseball is currently planning dates for its next invitational that will feature even more Family Island teams.

The Reloaded executive team and coaches consists of Peron Burnside, Mandell Curry, Tarah Curry, James Clarke, Lisa Bostwick Dean, Javier Bowe, Desmond Ferguson, Barry Nairn, Kennellis Gibson, Stephen Hubert Beneby (Bishop), Thalia Culmer, Kenue Mcphee, Dcarl Rolle, Jay Seymour, Javardo Bain.

Reloaded also is grateful for the participation of umpires and scorers during the tournament, including Sherry Beneby, Bonita Romer, Alexandria Gabriell, Lorraine Fowler, Stephen Beneby, Stephen Sands, Robert Gilbert, Donald MacGregor, Trea Bain and D’carl Rolle.