SPORTS SECTION E
WORLD SERIES
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
Game 6, Page 13
TAR national stadium gets $800,000 facelift, thanks to NSA By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE National Sports Authority (NSA) has undergone a massive resurfacing of the infield at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, just in time for the staging of the 3rd Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. Jeffrey Beckles, general manager of the NSA, revealed yesterday that the $800,000 project which began on August 6 should be completed on December 6, just in time for the big collegiate game on Friday, December 23. “We made a decision that we needed to upgrade the infield surface here at the stadium,” said Beckles during a press conference for the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. “The foundation was a challenge for us. It wasn’t so much what was
A VIEW of the new surface of the infield at the TAR national stadium. Photo: Tim Clarke/The Tribune on top of it, but what was underneath. So we escalated it down to about three feet, took out all of the stuff that was prohibiting good growth and maintenance of a good sort base. “We came back with a brand
new celebration Bermuda field. As you can see, the staff is still here working, the contractor is still here working. We’ve given ourselves one of the best opportunities, not just to upgrade the field, but to upgrade the value of
our venue, whether it’s for American football or soccer, which we have now put ourselves in a very good position to attract quality soccer games over the next few years.” Classic Golf Bahamas, a locally based company responsible for the construction of the Baha Mar Golf Course, the Albany Golf Course and now they are working on the Lyford Cay Golf Course, has been contracted to carry out the resurfacing of the infield. “They have a very good reputation. The Albany project and what you have seen at Baha Mar satisfied us that we had a good Bahamian quality company that could do this work,” Beckles said. “This was sort of easy for them considering the dynamics of a golf course compared to just doing this course. “So we’re happy to have a Ba-
hamian company that is capable of doing a commendable job, such as what they are doing.” Beckes said the difficulty was because the foundation for the infield was not done properly in the initial stage when the construction was done by the People’s Republic of China in donating the stadium to the people of the Bahamas. The Chinese were responsible for building the stadium. “We realised that rather than continuing to spend money on top of it, trying to make it look good, we needed to give ourselves an opportunity to have a successful turf. Now we have grass that has a great chance of thriving for several years to come.” Beckles said every capital expenditure that the NSA administration, headed by Lynden Maycock, has undertaken in the past two years can be justified.
ORGANISERS: POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL WILL BE BIGGER AND BETTER
Buddy scores 10 for winless Pelicans NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo capped a 24-point, 10-rebound performance with a pivotal 3-pointer with 1:34 to go, Jabari Parker added 21 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the winless New Orleans Pelicans 117-113 last night. Anthony Davis scored 35 points — the third time he has scored at least that many points — to go with 15 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. But once again, it was not enough for New Orleans, which has dropped its first four games, including three at home. Milwaukee rookie Malcolm Brogdon had his best game yet, scoring 14 points — 10 in the second half. Tony Snell had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, while Rashad Vaughn scored 12 points and Matthew Dellavedova had 11 points and eight assists. The Bucks looked to pound the ball inside and the Pelicans could offer little resistance. Milwaukee scored 58 of its points in the paint, compared to 38 for New Orleans. The Bucks outrebounded the Pelicans 50-42. Tim Frazier had 20 points and nine assists for New Orleans,
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THEY won’t know exactly which two teams will be coming down to compete until the Thanksgiving weekend, but if the first two editions were any indication, organisers anticipate that the third annual Popeyes Bahamas Bowl will be bigger and better. Scheduled for Friday, December 23, on the new turf laid down on the infield of the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, the collegiate bowl game will be between schools from the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference. The game will be televised nationally in the United States on ESPN. The organising committee, led by Chris Pika, the director of communications for the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, held a press conference yesterday at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium to outline the details for this year’s event. “We’re excited about the third game coming up. We’re getting ready to hit the halfway point in our
SHAKE ‘N’ BAKE: Rookie Buddy Hield scored 10 points in 14 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks last night. (AP) SEE NBA CAPSULES ON PAGE 13 while Solomon Hill added 18 points and E’Twaun Moore had 17. Hill and Moore combined to shoot 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Rookie Buddy Hield, the NBA’s sixth overall draft pick, scored 10 points, but was just 1 of 6 from 3-point range. The game featured significant
swings in momentum, with the Pelicans leading by as many as nine points early and the Bucks taking a 12-point lead in the third quarter when Antetokounmpo’s layup made it 74-62. New Orleans responded with an 11-0 run that began with Moore’s 3 and ended with Hill’s 3, but the
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Bucks rebuilt a 10-point lead in the middle of the fourth quarter with a 13-4 run that included Brogdon’s dunk and his 3-pointer. The Pelicans got as close as 114112 on Davis’ floater with 1:46 left, but Antetokounmpo responded with a clutch 3 and New Orleans didn’t recover.
‘We see NAIA membership in our short term future’ By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WHILE the College of the Bahamas will be transformed into the University of the Bahamas next week, everybody is waiting for the unveiling of its new Athletic Department. Kimberly Rolle, the current athletic director of the Caribs, was tight-lipped as to exactly how it will all pan out, but she indicated that there is something exciting being planned. “This year, the president (Rodney Smith) has formally written to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to become a member,” Rolle said. “The conversation has begun. So far it has been really productive and headed in the right direction, so we are really excited about that.
“We see NAIA to the NAIA, facilities membership in our become important.” short term future and With the incorposo we are just waitration of the national ing for the university facilities into their to happen so that we programme, Rolle can mobilise a lot of said they can now have our plans. With the their men’s basketball, university coming on women’s volleyball, stream, it will assist women’s softball, us in fast tracking our men’s baseball and agenda.” golf, if they choose to Rolle said Prime go that route. ROLLE Minister Perry Chris“We now have the tie has already profacilities for collegiate nounced that the 450 acres of teams to now come in and particisporting complex will be annex to pate in,” she said. “So to have that the UB. platform at the 450 acres is huge “That means that we will have for our sports development and direct access to what is known as so we are excited about the talks the national facilities,” Rolle said. we are engaged in with the NAIA “That now becomes a part of the and the sporting facilities that will athletic platform for the univer- be available to us.” sity. That is huge for us because Additionally, Rolle said that as you can imagine, with a move would open the door for the uni-
versity to look seriously at its recruiting programme for their athletic teams to seek out the international teams to help their athletic programme to blossom. “In the short term, two to four years, we see tremendous growth within the athletic platform,” Rolle said. “We have two Jamaicans here on our athletic team, but 99 per cent is Bahamians. “I think one of the other things we will have to look at in the very near future is obtaining full-time coaches. That has to happen for our programme to grow. These coaches will then be accountable for our programmes to grow.” At present, all of the coaches are on a part-time basis. They include: Softball - Oria ‘Big O’ Wood, assisted by Spurgeon Johnson. Men’s basketball – Bacchus Rolle, assisted by Lavar Johnson.
Track and field – Rupert Gardiner, assisted by Ednal Rolle and Bradley Cooper. Women’s volleyball – Cora Hepburn, assisted by Renaldo Knowles. “We do not have a single coach full time on our staff,” Rolle said. “We may have to start in the first instances where we may have to hire one or two and then build the complement of the coaching staff. “That is something that has to happen if we want to really see the growth and progress in our teams and take them to another level. For example, our track team and men’s basketball team is competing against full-time coaches. But the mere fact that we have been competitive is encouraging.” The men’s basketball is coming off a trip to Florida over the week-
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