SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017
Freedom Farm comes Aliv By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net ne of the country’s leaders in youth sports development joined forces with a major corporate sponsor. Aliv announced a “six figure sponsorship” of the Freedom Farm Baseball League, and a three-year agreement between the two organisations. Opening day for Freedom Farm is set for Saturday, January 14 and senior director of the league, CJ McKenzie, said the sponsorship will be able to pay immediate dividends for various necessary initiatives that will be immediately visible at the complex in Yamacraw. “With this partnership we will have a lot of changes going on. We have been trying to get scoreboards for quite some time and did not have the financing for them. Our treasurer confirmed last week that scoreboards are on the way and we will have them placed on our Coach Pitch and 9-10 fields. “We have some adjustments to make to the fields in terms of clay, fencing, dugouts. Overall you will see beautifying of all the fields. We had a lot of damage from Hurricane Matthew. It really did us in, but we will be prepared for opening day this Saturday. We are looking toward an app that the players, coaches and fans can use so there’s a technological aspect of this partnership we are looking forward to as well,” he said. “This is one the most exciting seasons we are geared up for. Freedom Farm has been in existence for almost 30 years and over that time we have produced a major leaguer, over a dozen professional athletes, as well as dozens and dozens of college scholarships – all without a major sponsor. So now with Aliv, there is so much more we can do. We look forward to this season’s games and pushing the Aliv brand. In our first meeting one of the things we talked about was establishing ourselves with a number one company. Freedom Farm is number one in baseball in the country and we see Aliv looking to be dominant in their market and becoming number one.” This season, over 40 teams will
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JOINING FORCES: Shown (l-r) are Ainsworth Beckford, Freedom Farm league director, Anissa Adderley, Aliv marketing executive, Norman Lightbourne, Aliv Events, Bianca Sawyer, sponsorship and community manager, Senator Greg Burrows, president of Freedom Farm, Clearance McKenzie, Freedom Farm senior director, and Freedom Farm league directors Chinyere Culmer, Sean Bain and Todd Isaacs. participate in the league. Freedom Farm will begin its 29th season. It’s opening day celebrations include a gathering of parents, sponsors, coaches, family and friends to worship at Holy Cross Anglican Church. Following the service, the seven divisions will line up for a parade. After an official opening ceremony, play in all divisions will commence. Greg Burrows, president of Freedom Farm, said while the numbers around the league continue to expand exponentially, the sponsorship from Aliv is both timely and necessary. “Our numbers continue to grow with close to 800 kids in the programme, 60-70 coaches, over 100 volunteers and parents that assist the programme. We have a Cal Ripken World Series win, and continue the motto of Freedom Farm – the advancement of education through the sport of baseball. Here it is a new company looking forward to assist a developing programme. Even though we are 29 years in I still consider us a developing programme,” he said. “We have been asking for a long time and a new company decides to partner with us. It is touching that they see fit
to invest in a programme that has affected so many young men and women over the years. I can tell of times we have received assistance in small amounts over the years, but we have still been able to do great things. We are the number one programme in the country, the largest in the country and I am just happy to be a part of this arrangement and I hope that you see fit, even after I have exited the scene, to continue to support Freedom Farm.” Bianca Bethel-Sawyer, corporate events and sponsorship manager at Aliv, said the partnership further demonstrates the company’s commitment to youth and community development. “The three-year commitment allows Aliv to be the official sponsor of the league and assist with its aim of the pursuit of higher education through the sport of baseball. The support underscores Aliv’s passion to encourage the growth and development of the young people of the Bahamas. Aliv has committed financial support, equipment and uniforms to help hundreds of players in different divisions of the league with improving their baseball skills,” she said. “It is our hope that all the players in the league enjoy
the positive experiences that the sport offers, including the appreciation of the values of teamwork, discipline and fair play. Our sponsorship will also ensure that the league’s park fields and facilities are kept in pristine condition. We truly see this as a great opportunity for us to invest in a league but in the young players who will benefit from learning the sport.” Freedom Farm returned to the Bahamas Baseball Federation’s Andre Rodgers National Championship last year and staked their claim as the sport’s most dominant programme in the country. Freedom Farm captured gold medals in each of the five contested divisions in the 14th edition of the national tournament at the EMERA Baseball Complex in Grand Bahama last June. “We mark the start of a great relationship between Aliv and the Freedom Farm Baseball League,” said Norman Lightbourne, Aliv marketing executive. “With this relationship, both organisations take a step toward achieving their goals by assisting the development of youth in the Bahamas while raising awareness of our shared themes and representing what the Aliv brand means.”
Wild Card, 2 & 3
SHANEA TAKES ON NEW ROLE FOR LADY BULLDOGS By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net A SEASON of highlights continues for Shanea Armbrister as she takes on a larger role for the Georgia Lady Bulldogs women’s basketball team this season. In her latest outing, Armbrister scored a career high 18 points and dished the game winning assist in the Lady Bulldogs’ 70-68 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. She shot 7-11 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arch and added three assists and one steal. On their final possession of the game, Armbrister drove into the lane with the final seconds and found Stephanie Paul who made a jumper to give Georgia the win. It was Armbrister’s second double-digit scoring performance of the season and her career. Georgia trailed by as much as 13 during the first half before they stormed back to win their fourth win of the last five meetings against Vanderbilt. “We had to get our minds right in the locker room. We talked about picking the energy up, picking each other up, and that’s what we did,” Armbrister said. “They switched it up a lot so we really had to focus in on what plays they were running and being able to figure out what their strategy is.” Paul was one of four Lady Bulldogs who scored in double figures. “I saw Shanea had the ball left and I just tried to catch to an open space and hope I was open. It’s shots that we talk a lot in practice, that we do all the time, so I knew I would be able to make it.” Georgia improved to 10-6 on the season, third in the SEC.
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Jasrado one of the top prospects Thompson defies wind to for the Arizona Diamondbacks win Great Exuma Classic By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net FOLLOWING a promising rookie season, Jasrado Chisholm has been projected as one of the top prospects in the Arizona Diamondbacks organisation. Baseball America listed Chisholm as the No.5 prospect headed into the 201617 campaign. He made his minor league debut in the Diamondbacks farm system with the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League. The 5’11, 165-pound shortstop excelled in Rookie League play and showed flashes of the potential the Diamondbacks looked forward to when they signed him as a free agent. Chisholm was the team’s top signing in the 2015-16 international year, where the team had to deal with penalties for going over the bonus pool the previous year. He was named to the annual Pioneer League vs. Northwest League All Star Game.
JASRADO CHISHOLM has been projected as one of the top prospects for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He appeared in 62 games for the Ospreys. and in 249 at bats, he hit .281 with
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HIGH winds have been wreaking havoc among the professional golfers at the Web.com Tour’s Bahamas Great Exuma Classic this week, with only the winner, Kyle Thompson, finishing better than par. With winds whipping up to 40mph, the two-round scores set a new record for highest ever cut in a Web. com Tour event at 11 over par. That mark broke the previous record of 10 over at the 1991 South Texas Open. England’s Greg Eason, who shot 91 and 95 and missed the cut, claimed in a tweet to have lost 32 golf balls in the difficult conditions which saw each of the first three days finish with uncompleted rounds. Buffeted players lost
their hats in the wind while flagsticks bent and waves crashed on the shoreline around the Emerald Reef course at Sandals Emerald Bay. Nicholas Thompson, the older brother of LPGA star Lexi Thompson who will be playing in the Pure Silk-Bahamas Classic at the Ocean Club later this month, was the only player under par after two rounds while the third round leader Kyle Thompson, who was level par 216 when the round finished yesterday morning, eased to victory in the afternoon despite a late wobble when he took six at the par four 16th and had to hole a tricky six-foot putt for par at the last. His third successive round of 70, two under par,
left him two strokes clear of fellow Americans Nicholas Thompson, who finished with a 71, and Andrew Yun (69). Dan McCarthy finished three strokes further back while former US Amateur runner-up Corey Conners, of Canada, tied for fifth at four over with Abraham Ancer and Nate Lashley. PGA Tour veterans Sam Saunders, Chesson Hadley and Erik Compton were further off the pace. Kyle Thompson bounced back after playing the first six holes of the tournament in six over, and when the final round began yesterday he opened with four frontnine birdies. That helped him build a five-shot advantage before the double bo-
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