SPORTS SECTION E
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017
Beach soccer ‘ready for the world’
MARATHON
Race Weekend, Pg 2
SUNS STOP ACES TO STAY UNDEFEATED By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
STADIUM TOUR: Local Organising Committee members on tour at the new beach soccer complex yesterday. Photo: Kemuel Stubbs By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
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Media members tour new stadium
ith the 2,500 seats for the fans erected, all that’s left is the VIP stand, press centre and the actual beach soccer pitch and the Bahamas Football Association will be prepared to take on the world. The local organising committee for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017 took the media on a tour of the new $2.5 mil-
lion facility being constructed at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge. The tour took place on the 100-day countdown to the FIFA Beach World Cup, scheduled for April 27 to May 7. In preparation for the prestigious event, the BBF will host the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier February 20-27. A total of 16 teams from the
Caribbean Football Union (CFU): Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands - North America: Canada, Mexico, United States - Central American Football Union (UNCAF): Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, are expected to participate in the
CONCACAF tournament. From the tournament, two additional CONCACAF teams will join the Bahamas as the three CONCACAF representatives in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017. “This countdown is a significant part of our efforts towards
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Team Bahamas off to Argentina to prepare for CONCACAF qualifier
ON FORM: The Bahamas Football Association men’s beach soccer team, currently travelling to Argentina in preparation for the CONCACAF qualifier next month and the FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup in April, is being coached by Alexandre Soares, assisted by Stephen Bellot. The team is comprised of the following players: Ivan Rolle (goalkeeper), Valin Bodde (goalkeeper), Nesley Jean, Kyle Williams, Tim Munnings, Gary Joseph, Lesley St Fleur, Gavin Christie, Dwayne Forbes and Alex Thompson.
THE Temple Christian Academy Suns outshined the Aquinas College Aces to remain undefeated in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ junior boys basketball league yesterday. The pennant-winning Suns pulled off a 37-31 victory to push their front running record to 9-0 with just one game left next week before they get ready for the playoffs. “It was a little scare coming down to the end but the boys practiced and trained hard for situations like this,” said Temple Christian coach Keith Rolle. “They were 8-0 coming into the game so they know what they had to do to win. They closed out strong and now we just have to play St John’s on Tuesday at the home of the Suns, so we hope to finish the season at 10-0.” If they go undefeated, it will be the best showing ever by the Suns. But Rolle said their ultimate goal is to go all the way and win the championship. “We play good defence, but we have one of two things we have to tweak offensively and we will be okay. We really want to win the championship.” Deyton Albury led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points to lead the Suns. Christopher Sturrup had nine before he fouled out and Joshua Burrows chipped in with seven. The Aces, who fell to 7-2 with the loss, got a game high 16 from Jordan Freemantle, eight from Ricardo Smith and four apiece from Chaz Mackey and Donovan Wilson. “We started off sluggish, but it’s difficult teaching junior boys because thy want to play too much NBA-style basketball,” said Aces’ coach Lawrence Irving. “By the second quarter, our two guard had three fouls and we had to sit him down until the fourth quarter and our big men believe they are the guards of the team. “It was a good loss for us, but I personally see their weaknesses. They like to feed off their fast-break points. So I’m going to go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments to slow them down. I’m hoping that if we finish fourth in the regular season and we meet them in the playoffs, we can beat them.” Temple Christian Academy opened a quick 6-0 to start the first quarter, but Aquinas College got three straight free throws from Freemantle and a lay-up as they eventually pulled even at 7-7. But after Burrows hit a jumper, the Suns got two consecutive block shots and Jones scored on a basket to push their lead to
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Strikers hand Shockers a pair of losses at Loyola Hall By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE double runners-up St Cecilia’s Strikers struck twice to hand the St Francis/Joseph Shockers a pair of shocking losses yesterday at Loyola Hall as the Catholic Board of Education continued its primary schools basketball league. In the girls’ game, the Strikers routed the defending champions Strikers 19-7 as Raynell Young exploded for a game high 13 points to single-handedly secure the win. Brianna Hanna added five as the two teams moved into a two-way tie for first place with a 2-1 win-loss record. Sammeka Hepburn had three and both Gianna Farquharson and Rashae Forbes had two points each in a losing effort.
And in the boys’ feature game, Cayden King came up with a game high 11 and Zachary Knowles chipped in with seven as St Francis/ Joseph held off St Francis/ Joseph 21-18. Nikolai Saunders had nine and Larry Daxon contributed four in a losing effort as both teams again pulled even at 2-1 in the front running standings. “We did pretty good today. We executed our offence, especially my girls,” said Strikers’ coach Devon Johnson. “They played their defence the way they were taught to play. They moved when they had to. They did a very good job today.” Johnson, however, said with just four teams entered in the league, he prepares his teams for the postseason because everybody will
make the playoffs. “I just try to get them better and better every game that they play,” Johnson said. In the girls’ game, St Cecilia took a slim 5-4 lead as Young scored all their points. They scored the only point in the second quarter. But in the third, Young came up with six points in their 9-0 spurt as they put the game out of reach. The Strikers closed it out with a 4-3 tear in the fourth. “The girls’ team is fairly new. We have just two players with any game experience,” said St Francis/ Joseph coach Ricardo Freemantle. “But they are coming together good. We are 2-1. Unfortunately we lost the game today. I think it was due to the fact that they didn’t follow instructions and not really execute the
plays. But we will go back to the drawing board and try to improve on our performance.” In the boys’ game, it was a see-saw battle as King canned all five points in St Cecilia’s 5-4 lead after the first quarter. Saunders and Joel Thompson had three and two respectively in the second quarter as St Francis/Joseph went on a 5-1 tear to snatch a 9-6 lead. Then in the third, Knowles and Raheem Thompson got three and two points each as the Strikers struck for a 5-3 advantage to trail 12-11. When it counted the most in the fourth, King had six and Knowles four as they outscored the Shockers 10-6 to hold onto the close encounter. “It was one of those days.
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GOOD D: Strikers boys in action against Shockers yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff