Word of the National Sports Academy is like music to the ears of Abaco's Coach Wayde Adderley. As the leader of one of the quality basketball programs in all of the Family Islands, Coach Adderley is eager for an expanded stage to showcase his players from the Agape Christian Academy. It is expected that the National Sports Academy will have a strong concentration on sports development in the Family Islands as well as the capital, New Providence. Adderley informed that at the recent Grand Bahama Catholic High School Christmas Tournament, Agape did more than hold its own.
In fact, although not able to capture the tournament, Agape served notice of being a team to watch nationally, by beating perennial Grand Bahamian powers St. George's and Tabernacle. Coach Adderley and his Agape charges are to be congratulated. They made a statement and the timing is great. Agape has emerged at the right time. Coach Adderley is elated. "The school has been open for 18 years now. This is my fourth year at the school and the third year in charge of the basketball program.
In 2010, with this current group of seniors, we made the Final Four of the Fr. Marcian Peters Tournament. That's where it really all began regarding national attention to the program. We also made it to the Final Four of the New Providence Classic that year, losing the third place game to Anatol Rodgers. I was named coach of the tourney," informed Adderley. Agape continued to make its presence felt in national tournaments, inclusive of the Hugh Campbell Tournament and the Catholic High event. According to Coach Adderley, his squad is paced by Godfrey Rolle Jr., Agassi Saunders and Jaron Cornish.
"They have been with the program since it began and form our starting three-guard rotation. They are just a group of undersized but hard working kids. Nobody on the team is over 6'1". We have a great program, one of the school's keys to future success," said Coach Adderley. It is always impressive when national inroads are made by coaches and schools in the Family Islands because they function at such a huge disadvantage in comparison to their peers in New Providence.
Success in the Family Islands, particularly the less affluent ones, comes hard and with much sacrifice. Coaches like Adderley on a regular basis, dish out their very own funding and spend a lot of personal time attending to the programs and making sure that they remain ongoing. This is surely an area of focus for the National Sports Academy. The Grand Bahama high schools have developed into prime basketball forces in the country. The foundation built by iconic coach Gladstone "Moon" McPhee 40 years ago simply advances from strength to strength as the years go by. Hopefully on the back of the National Sports Academy, similar growth will result in Abaco and other parts of the Family Islands. Go Agape! (To respond to this article, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com)
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