SPORTS SECTION E
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2019
‘HELPING OUR YOUTH THROUGH EDUCATION AND SPORTS’
TEAM BAHAMAS at the Sugar Bert Boxing Tournament. Kneeling (l-r) are Lennox Boyce, Ronald Woodside, Patrick Joseph and Jovan Johnson. Standing are Keishno Major, Elizabeth Hutchinson, Wellington Smith, Vincent Strachan, Keith Major Jr and Carl Hield.
Boxing team brings home gold medal, three silver By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net arl Hield secured the lone gold as the Bahamas picked up three additional silver medals at the Bert Sugar Boxing Tournament over the weekend. Competing at the Charlotte Harbor Convention Center in Punta Gorda, Florida, Hield dominated his middleweight match from start to finish to lead the team by example. Lennox Boyce, boxing out of the elite welterweight division, picked up one of the silver medals after he fell short in his final. Patrick Joseph, a student from Anatol Rodgers High School, won by a walkover
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after his opponent took one look at him and refused to enter the ring. In his next match, Joseph got tired and was unable to continue as the referee stopped the bout. Elizabeth Hutchinson, the lone female competitor on the team, got a bye into the final where she eventually lost out after putting on a superb performance for the silver in her debut as well. Ronald Woodside, who was originally not scheduled to travel, changed his mind at the last minute and made the trip. He had an impressive showing in the elite lightweight division but came up short in the judges’ corner. Jovan Johnson, another student from the Anatol
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CARL HIELD, right, and federation president Vincent Strachan.
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net FREEPORT - For more than three decades, Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee has helped to impact the lives of more student athletes than he can count through HOYTES. Helping Our Youth Through Education and Sports - HOYTES - is a programme that was started jointly by McPhee, Doug Collins, Charles ‘Chuck’ Mackey and the late Watewell Rigby 35 years ago. Today, McPhee is almost single-handedly leading the charge in keeping the programme going, albeit, with a lot more events in Grand Bahama where he is based. “There are a lot of needs for young people to have somebody to lead them in the right direction in sports and to discipline them,” McPhee said. “The good thing is that I had some good coaches like Lou Adderley, Vince Ferguson, Homer Winder and in baseball, Charlie Williams and Benny Adderley as well as Roderick Simms, my first physical education teacher, was my idol.” As a result of what these men and others imparted into his life, McPhee said he was able to carry out his “God-given” calling to inspire and motivate young people. “I just can’t give it up,” McPhee said. Over the weekend at the St George’s Gymnasium, McPhee hosted the 14th Annual HOYTES Labour Day Basketball Classic. The event attracted teams from Grand Bahama, New Providence and Grand Cay. “It’s tiresome, but there’s a need there, so if you have the calling, all you have to do is use it,” McPhee said. “I believe I had the calling to stay with young people, so I will continue to do so.” While some of the pioneers of HOYTES are no longer in the spotlight, McPhee said he’s grateful that some of the players whom he has groomed are coming back and giving their time and energy as coaches.
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‘Softly’ Robins Summer Basketball Camp begins on June 17 By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net FREEPORT - Since 1978 when he returned from college, Charlie ‘Softly’ Robins has been giving back to the community, hosting an annual summer basketball camp. He started at Aquinas College when he served as physical education teacher and now it has grown in Grand Bahama where he resides and he was inspired to continue through his longtime mentor and friend Gladstone’ Moon’ McPhee. The Softly Robins Summer Basketball Camp, now 41 years old, is scheduled to be held June 17-20 at
the Charlie ‘Softly’ Robins Basketball Park in Grand Bahama. From July 1-5, Robins will move the camp to Bimini in honour of his deceased brother Sugar Robins, who was instrumental in helping him when he was alive. “I see that the kids need a little help in Bimini because they like basketball a lot,” said Robins of his decision to continue the camp. “But here in Grand Bahama, this is something from time and memory that I do. I had a lot of players who passed through it, young people like Peter Adderley, Ben Russell, and the late Ritchie Adderley.” While he basks in their glory when he sees players who advance
to the professional ranks as a result of their participation in the camp, Robins said it’s all about “making young men out of these guys in Grand Bahama. “I found that most of these guys had nothing to do in the summer and I realised that Moon couldn’t do it all himself. Errol Bodie was into track and field and basketball was my thing, so we decided to put it on.” Formerly held at St Vincent de Paul School, to Mary Star of the Sea and the Jack Hayward Gymnasium, Robins said the camp is held at the Charlie ‘Softly’ Robins Basketball Park that was held in CHARLIE Robins stands near the sign of the park named in his honour.
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