SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016
3rd annual King Eric Gibson Regatta set for Montagu Bay this weekend By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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he legacy of one of the most iconic names in Bahamian sailing continues as the regatta named in his honour continues to grow in stature each year. The 3rd annual “King” Eric Gibson Regatta is scheduled to be hosted this weekend (January 6-8) at the Montagu foreshore, each day from 9am to 11pm. The King Eric Regatta Committe aims to attract sloops from the A, B and C classes in an all encompassing family atmosphere on the weekend. The committee members include Eric Gibson Jr (who serves as chairman), Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson, Delworth Gibson, Cindy Gay, Stafford Armbrister and Lorraine Hamilton. Their aim for establishing the event was to bring awareness to the contributions “King” Eric has made to the sport. “The King Eric Regatta Committee was formed in 2014 to pay tribute to the legacy of the late King Eric Gibson by recognising his contributions and accomplishments in the development of the sport of sloop sailing in the Bahamas and to hold an annual regatta in honour of King Eric’s legacy,” Eric Gibson Jr said. “King Eric was responsible for establishing most, if not all, of the Bahamian sailing sloop clubs in the Bahamas, as well as starting most, if not all, of the regattas on the various Family Islands. He saw the regattas as an excellent way to stimulate the economies of the Family Islands. I am not sure you would find anyone disagreeing with this sentiment. King Eric was also known as the best sailmaker for Bahamian sailing sloops in the Bahamas. He also supplied most of the Bahamian sloop owners with products to keep their boats in good repair. “King Eric was
REGATTA TIME AGAIN: Shown (l-r) are Stepheno Kemp, Delworth Gibson, Eric Gibson, the regatta chairman, and Stafford Ambrister at a press conference to announce the 3rd annual “King” Eric Gibson Regatta. no doubt a very busy man. He always told me that it wasn’t about him, but it was about building the country. I can truly say that I now fully understand.” The New Courageous, the Barbarian and the Crazy Partner emerged as the overall class champions in the second annual King Eric All-For-One Regatta last year as it officially kicked off the 2016 sloop sailing calendar year. Over the three days of competition, the Courageous collected a total of 14 points to edge out the Red Stripe for the victory. The Courageous, skippered by Emmit Munroe, won the first and last races, losing the second race to the Red Stripe, who got second in the first and second races. Despite not sailing in the first race, Ed Sky came in third with a pair of third place finishes in the final two races. The Southern Cross got three fourths for fourth place with six points and was followed by the Good News, who rounded out the fleet with four points after getting a third and fifth place in the first two races. She didn’t finish the last race. In the B class, the Barbarian tallied 20 points to emerge as the winner. Storr’s Plumbing got sec-
ond with 18, Whiplash came in third with 17 points and the Ants Nest was fourth with 16. There was a protest lodged and race coordinator Stafford Armbrister said they sorted it out before they made the official results on the breakdown of the races between the nine boats that participated. The C class was also keenly contested with the Crazy Partner pulling off a slim 58-57 victory over the Witty K. The Crazy Partner got second in the first two races and was fourth in the third, while the Witty K came in eighth in the first race, but won the final two. Not too far behind in third place was Keep Your Eyes On Him with 54 points after getting a sixth and a pair of third places respectively. “Last year was a smashing success. We had a record number of persons participating, a record number of boats participating, a record number in terms of prizes that was given to the boats because we made it all about the boats and the various regattas in the Family Islands,” said the committee chairman. “This year, we plan to do basically the same thing, but take it to another level.” For those who will be onshore watching the action, Gibson said they also intend to have a taste of
the islands as vendors from the various islands will be selling food from the stalls. “This regatta will be a grand affair hosting all Class A, B and C sloops in the Bahamas wanting to participate,” he said. “There will be an array of onshore activities including entertainment by local acts including Ronnie Butler, Ira Storr and the Spank Band, Soulful Groovers Band, So Be It Band, Funky D, Geno D, Puzzle, Veronica Bishop, Ericka, Dyson, Exzec, Wendy and DJ Rev. We expect this to be a grand affair and would like to thank our early sponsors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources with responsibilities for Regattas, Burns House and the general public.” Over 30 boats are expected to participate and the event has the potential to have the biggest fleet in the brief history of the event. “This committee is taking on a great task with bringing in all of the boats. We have boats confirmed from numerous islands already. We are still awaiting boats from Abaco, and we have provisions in place to bring them over,” said committe member Delworth Gibson. “We are looking forward to a good time. We have 34 boats confirmed, but we expect that number to grow exponentially.”
NFL PICKS
Wild Card - Pages 2 & 3
BUDDY WESTERN CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE MONTH By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BUDDY Hield’s productive month of December was recognised by the NBA and his New Orleans Pelicans teammates and coaching staff have taken notice of the changes in his game. Hield was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month (December) after he led the conference’s rookies in scoring (10.6 points), threepoint field goal percentage (48 per cent) and three-pointers made (33). Hield scored 20 points for the second time this season, in Monday’s 90-82 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following the game, Pelicans perennial All-Star forward Anthony Davis noted Hield’s improvement over the last month. “He’s playing well. He’s hitting some big threes and attacking the basket, he’s starting to find his groove and that’s what we need,” Davis said. “He’s got a high basketball IQ and we just try to help him out. Knowing that as a shooter teams are going to lock in on him, he has to do other things back cut, shot fake, one dribble two dribble pullups or attack the basket. It’s going to open his game up even more.” Hield has scored in double figures nine times in 16 games, including 12 or more points in each of the final three games of December, which resulted in three straight Pelicans wins. “He’s starting to understand what teams are doing, he’s starting to do a good job of executing, making counter
SEE PAGE 8
Trent Deveaux preparing for pivotal transition to pro baseball By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net ONE of the top junior baseball prospects in the country, Trent Deveaux is preparing for a pivotal few weeks as he makes the transition to the professional game. Deveaux, 16, is currently training in the Dominican Republic with his sights set on signing day in the near future. After spending the past six months in the de facto mecca of baseball in the Caribbean, he said the rigorous training schedule has prompted a development in his game as he prepares for the series of important showcases. “We train nine hours a day for six days out of the week. At one time I was waking up at 4am to do a throwing programme and I have practice right after that. So I would be a van going from city to city to do different things and they’re long drives because the facilities aren’t close together. So we drive, sleep when we can on the way and wake up to go straight on the field. We usually get back from that, eat, go to sleep, go to the gym, and then it’s the beach
and the training session on the beach,” he said. “It was a huge difference because we’re used to mediocre or okay players, but in the Dominican everyone is really good. Everyone has something special about them that the coaches look for and it forces you to get better. For me, they say speed doesn’t slump, but I can hit.” Growing up playing in the Freedom Farm Baseball league, Deveaux said he first had dreams of professional baseball following his performance at the Bahamas Baseball Federation’s Nationals in 2011. “The Reds organisation knew me since I was 12 years old when I went to Freeport for the Nationals. There was a guy named Jim Stoeckel, a Reds scout and he was watching the 13-15 game, at the time I was playing 11-12. He said he heard a big crack of a bat so he turned around and saw a tall kid jogging the bases and it caught his attention. He started watching me and watching our game and afterward he took me and dad aside and he was showed me the positives of where my career can go,” he said. The Reds hosted Deveaux to
TRENT DEVEAUX a closed workout last February while he was enrolled in Elev8 Sports Institute in Delray Beach, Florida. The decision to make the progression to the Dominican Republic was one he mulled with his family following previous stops at St Augustine’s College, Max D and Elev8. “I had to go and make my new path. Going through those at that point it grew me up to realise that I had to make some tough decisions. My dad knows me so well and he always looks out for the best for me so I just
lean back and let him make the decisions. He lays out the options and I’ll choose from those and we talk on it. Going to the DR was one of those decisions because I had other options. I could have stayed home, I could have stayed at Elev8 Academy. But we chose the DR because we felt like it was the best path,” he said. “It wasn’t tough for me, I had my eyes on the prize. I was thinking on what was the quickest way to get where I need to go. If I could go the professional route and if I know I’m good enough I thought it was best because in my contract I know I can still negotiate my college fund. At first I wanted to take - I don’t want to say an easy way out - but I thought I could work hard by myself in an environment I knew so I was leaning toward Florida, but my dad said he was feeling the Dominican (Republic) so he talked me into it. I went down there and met the people and I was sold.” Deveaux said he drew inspiration from the Bahamian baseball players who competed for Great Britain in last summer’s World Baseball Classic Qualifier. “[To play for Team Bahamas]
That would be a crazy experience and I’m waiting for it and we could do it pretty soon, we just need some pitching. Everyone in the Bahamas has that athletic ability to run and jump so we have position players but only a few are working toward pitching,” he said. “I support everyone and what they’re doing and I talk to a lot of those guys about their experiences. We all have our plans and our visions but we rarely get together in the same place at the same time. We all want to eventually help and expand baseball in the Bahamas through the two organisations, building more fields, better fields, and promoting the sport better. We just got a good field at the prison but we can’t access that on a regular basis.” The 6’2” outfielder said his decision on a club could come as soon as next month but, until then, preparation continues. “I have to get back in the full swing of things. There is only so much I can do here in Nassau, I need my hitting coach and I need that competition.” As for where he sees himself signing when the MLB calls: “Any place with good weather.”