A man was found shot dead on Firetrail road early this afternoon. Police have no leads as yet, but investigators are canvassing the area for information. According to Supt Stephen Dean, the death is the 127th homicide of 2011.
• SEE SATURDAY'S BIG T FOR FULL STORY

The Government of the Bahamas has been apprised of the seventy-one employees who were recently terminated from Hutchinson Ports Bahamas in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

To assist these individuals, various government agencies, inclusive of the Department of Labour, the Department of Social Services and the National Insurance Board will offer similar services as has been done in the past with other displaced workers.

These services will include social assistance, registration for the Unemployment Benefit and the Employment Skills Data Bank...

Freeport, Bahamas - Aside from the traditional fireworks at midnight,

"The Owners
and Directors of Bourbon Street Limited are pleased to feature the
Panache Band who will take the audience on a musical journey," reveals
Karen Bain, Entertainment Coordinator for Port
Lucaya Marketplace. "Hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and all chart toppers of today, will all be played to stimulate the audience to
'dance, dance, dance' the night away!"

The highlight of the evening will
be a special guest appearance by T's Dancing Diva's,
who gave their promise to perform a must see show...

As the beginning of another sporting year approaches, presidents of various sporting disciplines throughout the country revealed their wish lists for 2012 to Guardian Sports, also outlining their goals and ideal circumstances.

Among the many things listed, in this two-part series, were to develop Family Island sporting programs, build a feeder system so stronger national programs can be produced and obtain qualifications on both the regional and international levels. While there is a long list of sports that are played in the country, only 10 are referred to by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture as core sports. These sports include basketball, baseball, track and field, softball, volleyball, lawn tennis, swimming, sailing, soccer and bodybuilding/powerlifting. The financial assistance received from the government varies by disciplines.
 
Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF)
Government grant: $50,000
(Special grants provided)
President: Algernon Cargill
This year we were without the Betty Kelly Kenning pool for most of 2011. That has hampered the progress of the sport, some what. But we were still successful overall.
The highlights would have been the performances at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) and the CARIFTA Swimming. We also had Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace's success at the World Championships.
Our biggest test next year will obviously be the Olympic Games. We have two qualifiers: Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace as an automatic qualifier and Alana Dillette has an invitational time. It will be nice to have a female relay team at the Olympic Games, that is still a dream of ours.

But equally as important, we are hosting the CARIFTA Championships in The Bahamas the week after the Easter break, April 16-18 here in New Providence. That is going to be very important to us because it gives us a chance to compete at home. It also gives several of the inspiring Olympians a chance to obtain Olympic qualifying times at home. We would like to win the CARIFTA, but we know that is going to be a challenge because we need to develop a more in depth distance program. Our swimmers, traditionally, like to sprint so we need to develop more long distance swimmers, which helps for CARIFTA points and also helps them in their sprinting.

Obviously, we would want to have more qualifiers for the Olympic Games. We have several swimmers on the crust of qualifying and we would like to see them qualify for the Olympic Games.

As a federation, we need to continue our Learn to Swim program because that is our foundation. The clubs will need to develop their youth programs so we can expand. If we can continue to keep Learn to Swim active, these programs will surely build for the future. The clubs also need to ensure that all the swimmers are registered with the federation.
 
Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA)
Government grant: $15,000
President: Stephen Turnquest
Overall I think that this year has been a successful one. We have had our share of disappointments at some international tournaments and look forward to improving in the upcoming year.

We would really love to see the Davis Cup team be promoted and move back into Group I, that is one of our main hopes for the new year. The Fed Cup team, we obviously want them to maintain where they are. The continued development of all our junior players is also a major concern of ours. We hope that we will be able to see some new faces and promising talent being exposed during tournaments that are scheduled for the new year.

We hope to get a little more expansion with tennis and exposure to the other islands as well. Right now everything is concentrated and centered in Nassau or Grand Bahama, and to some extent, tennis is being played in Eleuthera. We want a presence in all of the islands in The Bahamas.

I want us to develop a program in all of the islands. I don't think developing a program like the one we have will be difficult, you just have to have the commitment and the desire by the players, parents and tennis enthusiasts. We will need all of them to chip in and help out, so we can achieve the goal.

As far as the Olympic Games are concerned, that process is a little bit drawn out for next year. We have to be able to have the players who are ranked, with world ranking as well and play in prior tournaments, in order to play in the Olympic Games. I don't see that happening next year, so yes, it is kind of remote for this Olympics. But I do foresee it in the future.

 We have a good crop of promising junior players, especially in the boys and there are a few girls as well. If we can work with them now, and yes this is the time to start, we will be able to field a team.  There is still a lot of work to be done; there is no question about that.

We still have the ITF events: there is one in June and another in December. I am looking forward to the Bahamas Open. I know that it will materialize and that it will be a success as well. That particular tournament enable us to have a tennis presence in the region. We are hoping, with all the upgrades going on in the Sports Center, that there will be some more upgrades to the National Tennis Center. We would like to add some more courts so we can host the Junior Davis Cup or the Junior Fed Cup. There are other regional tournaments we would like to have here. So we have a long wish list, but you still have to be realistic on what you can do and what you can achieve. The assistance from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is also helpful and we are thankful.
 
 
Bahamas Softball Federation (BSF)
Government grant: $50,000
President: Burkette Dorsette
I am hoping and wishing that these associations run their internal business a little more efficiently. I want to see them run more smoothly than they have been doing in the last year or two. I think these associations need to, when they have their elections of officers, not look around and just accept the nominations of anyone. They need to have people who can assist with the growth and development of the sport. These persons should be dedicated and know the responsibility they are getting into.

But overall I think that it was a good year for the sport despite the talks about the 'so called controversy' at the round robin.  As it relates to what the association is actually doing, we, the federation, need to have a better relationship with the associations. There is no need to wait until the last minute to do things like this year, and we don't want them to wait either because there are times we can not assist and that creates a problem. Once we are aware of what is taking place, we will help. I think that will build a better relationship and we will see the growth on the administrative part. It takes all parties to have success.

I pray for the day when the associations will have one single constitution which will govern all of the associations. Right now our constitution only governs play during the BSF's Round Robin and National Championships. It does not govern play within the respective association. We have one or two things that are in there that relates to players' movement and when they can play. We had that problem this year when players joined a particular team at the end of the season. Some of the constitutions speak to that, but the federation's constitution is crystal clear: you can not play in one or more associations during the course of the season.

 Our constitution says that you must be a member of that particular team all year round in order to play and represent that particular association. You can not have any pick-up players playing in the federation's round robin. You can not select an All-star team. And that player must be a member of that particular team at a certain point and time during the course of your season.

So next year, I hope that we will be able to clarify all of these matters because at the end of the day, we want the players to benefit. We want the sport to grow and see the improvements and players on a high level.
 
 
Bahamas Volleyball Federation (BVF)
Government grant: $50,000
President: Don Cornish
Developing the sport in some of the remote Family Islands should be on the top of our list. I think volleyball is a fun sport and you can play from infancy all the way to old age. I think it has the ability to bring a lot of people together and build a community. It can be used for good fitness.

We want to make sure that the sport itself is enjoyed by as many people as possible, even though it is technical in nature. I think that most people can play at some level and enjoy it. But my wish is to see more volleyball played in The Bahamas, especially in those communities. I think it will be a valuable addition to develop more family life in more communities.

If we are able to do this, I think it will help to broaden the pool of players and expand the pool of talent. The pool of talent we have here is really big but we are not tapping into it. The strange thing is, you find talent in places you are not even looking sometimes. So once you get a larger pool of players, you get more competition and through these competitions you identify more players who can fill the positions on national teams. We really need to develop quality volleyball and really put a much stronger national program together where we can compete on the world stage. I am very confident that we can compete on the regional and world championships levels.

As many may know, this is my last term in office so the next administration will be taking over shortly. When they do, I want one of their goals to be bringing more competition and tournaments to the country. I am rooting for them to build the programs around The Bahamas and strengthen the New Providence and Grand Bahama associations. We have a core team that needs to be developed and enhanced. We have high quality female and male national teams, if we can continue to feed talent into that pool, there is no question that they can be competitive.
 
Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA)
Government grant: $50,000
(Special grants provided)
President: Mike Sands
One of the main things that I want us to do, as an organization, is put aside our personal differences and come together for the betterment of the sport and the athletes, who have entrusted us for guidance. Together everyone achieves more. I welcome constructive criticisms that will contribute to moving the sport forward.

We are looking forward to 2012 because it is going to be a very busy and active year which will include the World Junior Championships, CARIFTA Games in Bermuda, the Olympic Games, the NACAC U23  and the national championships. The association is looking with great anticipation to the opening and the utilization of the stadium. So we don't need distractions that will not contribute to the advancement of the sport. So personally, as I have done in my Christmas message to all off the athletes, I am extending the olive branch to all of those persons who will wish to see track and field move to the level that we know it can. It will take the cooperation of all.

Next year we are looking and making active plans to ensure that every athlete at every level, particularly at the senior level, as an opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games. I have already had preliminary discussions with my colleagues at the Olympic association and we will start the plans for the ideas very shortly. One of the plans is to identify athletes that are locally based and see what assistance we can give them.

I know through the association and Olympic solidarity, funds can be offered to some deserving athletes that may not have had the opportunity to be on the government's subvention. These athletes may have the potential to qualify for the Olympics. Part of our primary focus is going to be creating opportunities for these particular athletes, and by extension several coaches.
So our success next year will be based on the collective effort of the individual members of the association. We need all of them to be constructive, so we are appealing to all coaches and stakeholders to work together in 2012.
 
The wishes of the remaining five presidents will be highlighted in Saturday's edition of The Nassau Guardian.