With access to the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium being an ongoing issue for national teams, at least one person is speaking out, desperately seeking for a resolution.
Anastasia Sands-Moultrie, an executive in the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF), voiced her frustration through an e-mail yesterday. According to reports, the gym will be off limits until September. The problem with that is that the junior girls' national basketball team is scheduled to travel at the end of next month. The Centrobasket Under-17 Championships for Junior Women is scheduled for August 28 to September 1, in San Salvador, El Salvador. The coach of that team is Varel Clarke-Davis.
"How is it that Bahamians, but most of all the government, expect for national teams to do their best if we (any national team) cannot access the facility that we need to train for competition," asked Sands-Moultrie. "Let me see them lock track or swimming national teams out of their facility. We were locked out and being females and young ladies at that, there was no bathroom to use so the girls had to walk over to the swim complex. Thank God it was opened. We will try to speak with the relevant persons, and see what happens."
Sands-Moultrie said that it was about two weeks ago when the junior girls' national basketball team, without notice, was told that they cannot use the gym and had to practice outside because there was a karate tournament scheduled. Also, this past Wednesday, Sands-Moultrie said that they were denied access again. She said that the person in charge said that he was told by the minister of youth, sports and culture not to allow anyone inside the gym, and that the gym would be totally "off limits to all persons" until September.
"Are they serious," asked Sands-Moultrie. "Whoever it may be that has denied any national team access to the gym, the minister of sports or the sports authority, they should be ashamed of themselves."
Both basketball and volleyball have been utilizing the gym for their respective national programs, but both have been denied access in recent weeks. They normally practice one right after the other, and junior teams will be traveling in both sports this summer.

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