The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Education’s Department of Education Primary Unit held a successful Handball Skills Refresher Course Professional Development for members of the New Providence Primary Public Schools Sports Association.

The two-day clinic, held on Wednesday and Thursday at the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium, was conducted by Lawrence Hepburn, the vice president of the Bahamas Handball Federation, which is headed by former Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller.

Claire Storr, the education ffficer for the Primary Physical Education Unit at the Ministry, said the Professional Development went very well and the participants were all eager to be a part of the event.

“The next step we are going to take is to introduce it to the students and get them exposed to the game,” Storr said. “Once the teachers are more comfortable with it, we will try to bring out into the Family Islands.

“We already have Family Island teachers asking for supplies. They are all excited about learning about the sport and they see the need for it in the schools. It’s an easy transition because they are already exposed to basketball and soccer, so it will be an easy transition for the students to engage in.”

Storr, however, was not certain if the Ministry of Education can include it into their curriculum, but they will probably look at introducing some inter-mural games and tournament format.

Latoya Bain, the president of the NPPPSSA, said the Professional Development course was a refresher course as a follow-up to the initial course that took place in August. “It was. a lot of fun because what we learn, we were able to demonstrate that over these two days on the court,” Bain said. “So, if we had forgotten it, it was just a refresher and eventually we could implement it into the schools so that we can bring it to our students.”

Not only was it a lot of fun for the 20-pplus members of the association, but it was a “workout session,” according to Bain because they went through some non-stop drills that kept them going in the fast-paced sport.

Vashon Armbrister, a Physical Education. teacher at Sandilands Primary, said the information presented was well received,

“The next step for us is to try and introduce this s[ort to the kids in our schools,” Armbrister said. “We have to do at a very young age so that when they reach the junior and senior high schools, the game should be played at a much higher level.”

Armbrister said if there’s one important thing he learnt from the session is that handball is all about “having fun. It’s similar to basketball, so once you understand the basic concept of basketball, it kind of correlate with each other.”

Keva Bridgewater, a teacher at Palmdale Primary, said the clinic was a good event for them to go through the introduction of handball and she can’t wait to take it back to her school.

“For me being a lower primary school instructor, I think learning the hand and eye coordination was very important to develop with our students at such a young age,” Bridgewater said. “I enjoyed the lessons we were taught.”

Dawn Knowles, the former Primary Schools Sports Director at the Ministry of Education, said once the federation was formed in 2019, they have been trying to build the momentum in preparation for selecting its under-12 boys’ national team to compete on the international scene.

Knowles, who serves as the treasurer, said that’s one of the reasons why they are working extensively with the teachers in the primary schools because they have all the skills intact.

“We want to implement the progrmme into the primary schools because they have all of the fundamental skills,” Knowles said. “So, we are looking forward to a good group of teachers to come out and participate.”

Dr Vandyke Bethel, a teacher at Doris Johnson, also participated in the clinic. He noted that while doing his doctoral degree in London, he attended many sports, including handball. He indicated that he would be willing to assist the federation in any way he could in passing on the knowledge he gained from the lecturers during the various courses he participated in.