The BSF nationals will now take palce the first weekend in November due to damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.

The Baillou Hills Sporting Complex suffered substantial damage during Hurricane Matthew, so much that the Bahamas Softball Federation (BSF) has decided to delay its National Round Robin Tournament to the first weekend in November.

The change in the date was made to allow various associations to finish off their championships and also to make repairs to the fields.

The nationals were originally set for the weekend of October 27-30.

"Because of the hurricane, some of the teams would not be able to complete their championships in time," said BSF President Ted Miller.

"And for those who had the time to complete their series, they found out that the parks where they played were not in condition to play in. For example, Grand Bahama has two more games to play and they can get them played before the end of the month, but they don't know when they will be able to play because their park (at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex) has had some damage from the hurricane.

"For the NPSA (New Providence Softball Association), they also have some time but the park (at the Bankers Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex) doesn't have any damage, unlike the four fields where we will be playing during the day across the road (at the Government League fields), but they don't have any power, so they can't play in the night."

In an effort to ensure that all of the teams are present at the nationals, Miller said the BSF is looking into providing some financial assistance to the associations that have been affected.

"We know that both Grand Bahama and Andros are reeling from the damage of Hurricane Matthew," he said. "So we are going to look and see how we can assist them. We're not sure what type of assistance it will be yet, but it depends on how much in the annual grant that we will get from the government. But we will be looking at making some type of assistance to the teams to get them here for the nationals."

Last year, both the men and women's titles remained in New Providence. The Lady Stingers knocked off the Grand Bahama Lady Wolverines 10-4 and the Commando Security truckers defeated the two-time defending champions 5 Star AG & Tuff Bulldogs from Abaco 4-1.

Randy Smith, Guardian Sports Reporter

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