By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 6, 2021 — Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis attended the Miami Heat game on Thursday, December 2, and according to published reports he was given a warm welcome and named honorary team captain at the game.
The fact that we now have a Prime Minister who is an avid sports enthusiast is certainly good news for young Bahamians, especially those involved in some area of sports.
Of course, sports was not a top priority under the former Free National Movement (FNM) government; therefore, the promotion of sports generally was disgracefully neglected. There is a body of opinion that this was primarily due to the fact there is no evidence that former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis participated in any area of sports when he was growing up as a young boy in Nassau.
This is clearly an uncommon reality among young Bahamian males growing up in a country where sports is as important to the well-rounded growth and development of a young man as his “first kiss” from his childhood sweetheart.
More likely than not, this was the reason for Dr. Minnis’ lackluster response to the major accomplishments by Bahamians in several sports genre when he was Prime Miniter.
An egregious example of this was his tepid reaction to the remarkable season Bahamian professional baseball sensation Jazz Chisholm Jr. had during his rookie season with the Miami Marlins.
Back in June when thousands of Bahamians visited Miami for Bahamian Heritage Night, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. being the center of attraction, Dr. Minnis – without explanation – cancelled his planned trip to see Jazz play.
Both then PLP Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis and Deputy Leader Chester Cooper were prominently seated in Miami Stadium for the game.
Dr. Minnis’ lack of interest in sports may also be the reason why after the FNM won the May 10, 2017, general election, he selected Lanisha Rolle as Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture. Ms. Rolle was a total disaster as Sports Minister and was forced to resign from the Cabinet in February of 2021 amidst a mushrooming scandal involving alleged financial malfeasance related to a lavish home she was building.
Over its four-plus years as the government of The Bahamas, an even more unforgivable neglect by the FNM administration is that construction on the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium, named after the first Bahamian to play professional baseball, came to a screeching halt.
Ground was officially broken for the new baseball stadium near the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre in December of 2014, with a proposed seating capacity of around 8,000.
During a press conference on November 16, 2016, along with Dr. Danny Johnson, the then PLP Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Project Architect Mike Foster said construction was ahead of schedule and the stadium should be completed in the Summer of 2017.
Of course, the FNM became the government in May of 2017 and obviously completion of the Stadium was not designated as a top priority. What makes this decision by Prime Minister Minnis even all the more disgraceful is the fact that organized baseball in The Bahamas has made tremendous progress in recent years, thanks to the foresight and commitment of Greg Burrows Sr. and other executives of the Freedom Farm Baseball League.
Both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Lucius Fox, who was recently claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles after playing Tripple-A baseball in the Kansas City Royals farm system, honed their youthful baseball skills in the Freedom Farms Baseball League.
Given the fact that The Bahamas has a number of other players in the Minor League pipeline that will soon join Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the Major Leagues, it was mind-boggling that Dr. Minnis, because of his personal lack of interest in sports, did not put a greater priority on completing the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium.
By contrast, Prime Minister Davis participated in a variety of sports growing up, including track and field, cricket, softball and baseball, excelling in both softball and baseball. So, it is not surprising that under his leadership as Prime Minister sports is now receiving the kind of focused attention that has been so lacking under Prime Minister Minnis and the FNM.
To be sure, Mario K. Bowleg, the new Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture, has already repeatedly demonstrated that Prime Minister Davis unquestionably made an excellent decision in appointing him to that position.
Indeed, the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium is expected to be completed in time to host the Babe Ruth Caribbean Region Championships when teams from throughout the Caribbean will go head-to-head in the 12U category during the week of July 7th to 11th, 2022.
