SPORTS SECTION E
NFL PICKS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Week 11, Pages 2 & 3
Rodgers: BBA ‘will be happy to integrate with the BBF’ By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WITH the passing of his mentor and former leader Jim Wood two years ago, Sam Rodgers has assumed the role as president of the Bahamas Baseball Association. And Rodgers, who was accompanied by one of the vice presidents Stanley Mitchell at the announcement of the latest development for the construction of the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium yesterday, said he intends to keep the memory of Wood alive as he heads the embattled organisation that seeks to exist without any membership, but remains the governing body for the sport. Wood died on December 9, 2014 and in January 2015, Rodg-
ers was placed in charge of the BBA. He said at present, he’s trying to complete the administrative structure. It’s no secret that before Wood died, there was a lot of contention between the BBA and the Bahamas Baseball Federation, which has primarily carried the sport on the ground by doing primarily what the BBA should have been doing. Rodgers said they are looking at a compromise between the two bodies as they chart the way forward. “We have decided so far that we will not run any leagues that will interfere with the BBF,” Rodgers said. “What we have decided to do is look at baseball from our angle from the international tournament perspective. “So once we have those tournaments lined up, we will sit down
with the BBF and their president Teddy Sweeting and see how we will integrate these tournaments because they have the players. So they will be responsible for getting the players together and we will be responsible for the international tournaments.” Although the BBF has been agitating for a change to both the Bahamas Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the two highest sporting bodies in the country, Rodgers said he doesn’t see why there is a problem with the picture he’s painting. “If we both decide to run a league, when it’s time to pick a national team, I could decide to pick all the players from my league, then that would be a problem,” he said. “So we in the BBA have decided that we will not run
any league to compete with their league. “But when we have to go to the international tournaments, we will select their players to take part in these tournaments. We will run some academies, which will be designed for players who are not playing in their league. We will get them on the field and help to develop them so that they can then be integrated into the BBF leagues.” No doubt with the construction of the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, there is expected to be some contention over the use of the facility, which will be operated by the National Sports Authority. Rodgers said they don’t see any problems. “We heard that the stadium
will be up and running in a few months. I think we can utilise the stadium, along with the Ministry of Youth, and make it a profitable one,” Rodgers said. “Most of the time when I travel, people have been asking me when are we going to host an international tournament because they want to come to the Bahamas. “So I think it would be a smooth transition for us. We hope to bring tournaments of different age brackets here and I don’t have a problem bringing teams here to compete. So we will be happy to integrate with the BBF and corporate Bahamas so that we can properly entertain the teams when they come here to play in the new stadium.” Hopefully, the BBF will get to voice their opinion on the issue in Friday’s edition of The Tribune.
Work on the new baseball stadium going as planned By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WORK on the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium, with a synthetic field, is going as planned, on schedule and on budget, according to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson. His comments came yesterday as he, along with architect Michael Foster, brought the media up to date on the latest developments of the 4,500 spectators’ seating stadium, which will occupy 24.80 acres of land at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. Director of Sports Timothy Munnings said the Ministry would hold periodic briefings as they continue with the construction. “In the next couple of
weeks, you will see a lot of flat beds with the framework, the roof, the carriages for the grandstand and most of the copper structure on site,” said Foster, whose AR Concepts, The Bahamian Architect Group, is responsible for the designing of the stadium. “We played a trick on the media and the public. The typical Bahamian, you say you are going to do something and they don’t understand the process. They want to see something tomorrow. The people who follow sports in our country are very cruel. I understand that.” To ensure that everything would be in place, Foster said the company which manufactured the stadium, began the process from last November and now the fabricated portions are on the
MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson yesterday talks about the progress made so far with regard to the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium. Photo: Felicity Ingraham way, completely ahead of the construction that is currently taking place at the site. “I imagine that by February, the stadium is going to be up, people will drive by and think it will be a day or two away from completion,” Foster said. “But there will be a lot of work to be done. “I imagine that by February, the roof and the
structure will be on and the proceeding months, you will see the exterior, the parking lot will begin. Once the crane goes down, the preparation for the field will begin.” By March 2016, 90 per cent of the stadium will be completed and between May and June, Foster said everything should be up and running.
“The foundation is out of the ground, 100 per cent and the construction columns of the stadium, we expect to see them erected as early as next week,” Foster said. “I think everybody has seen the huge crane on the site, but that was a huge challenge getting that there. That will make the construction very easy. The
specimens for the stadium are still the same with a seating of spectators and there will be a 5,000 square foot area for office spaces on both the ground and second level.” Although he would have preferred the grass turf on the field, Foster said it was agreed to go with synthetic
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Basketball showcase to feature six US high schools By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN DeAndre Ayton, the top ranked high school basketball prospect, will lead a field of talented players coming to town this weekend to participate in the ‘Sands Between Your Toes’ Basketball Showcase. The showcase, featuring six visiting high schools from the United States and four teams from the Bahamas, two out of New Providence and Grand Bahama each, is all set to be held on Friday and Saturday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson said this provides an unique opportunity
for the public to see Ayton in action before he begins his journey to the next level at college where he has already signed to play for the Arizona Wildcats next year, turning down offers from the Kansas Jayhawks, Kentucky Wildcats, Maryland Terrapins and the San Diego State Aztecs. “DeAndre always wanted to come home. I coached him when he was 14-15 in the summer time and he played with me in the Summer of Thunder when we beat North Carolina,” Johnson said. “That’s how we built the relationship. “But he always wanted to come home before he goes to college. His people planned it along with me. I’m helping them out, making
sure everything is organised on this end to bring him home to play before his people. He wants the Bahamian people to know who DeAndre Ayton is before he goes to college and hopefully by the grace of God, the NBA.” While he’s the top ranked player going into college, Johnson said Ayton is already projected to be the next Ben Simmons going into the NBA draft. “It’s just a projection, but his projection is huge when it comes to a Bahamian player coming back home to compete in front of his Bahamian people.” Ayton, the 7-foot-0, 220-pound centre, will lead Hillcrest Prep out of Phoenix, Arizona when they take on the 22 Feet Academy
in their first game 8pm Friday. They will play their second game on Saturday against The Conrad Academy at the same time. The other two visiting high schools out of the United States are Victory Rock Prep and The Tech Academy. “We want the Bahamian public to understand that this is going to be a high level high school basketball showcase,” Johnson said. “We want our Bahamian players to understand how important it is to play at this high level and if they want to play at this high level, they have to really train and put in the work. “Definitely DeAndre is the feature and centre of attraction. We want to highlight what he is doing
over there (in the United States), how good he is and everybody will get a chance to see just how good he is projected to be.” While the six foreign schools will be matched against each other in the five match series on both days, the local teams from Grand Bahama and New Providence will square off against each other in the early game at 3:30pm and the feature game at 9:30pm. “We know that we are probably not ready because the competition is keen and to play against one of those teams, you want to be able to play at a high level that these guys play at,” Johnson said. “You’re talking about at least
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