On the same day that Bahamian professional baseball player Jasrado 'Jazz' Chisholm Jr. and the Miami Marlins clinched a spot in the National League (NL) playoffs of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Jazz Chisholm Foundation Little League officially got underway at the Baillou Hills Sports Complex.

Seven games were on the schedule as the league officially opened on Saturday. League Commissioner Geron Sands said that it has been a dream of Chisholm.

"He wanted to come back in some way and start a league to help many more kids who hasn't been helped," Sands said. "Coming out here and seeing all these people support this is amazing. The games went well with four teams in each division. To see the players out here and the support of the fans here at this amazing event, is something that we need more of. Hopefully all these players come back one day and give something back to the younger kids. Our country is in need of it."

The divisions that are a part of the little league are T-Ball (5-6), Coach Pitch (7-8), 12-and-Under (12U) and 14-and-Under (14U). There are four teams in each of the divisions. The league will look to wrap up on December 3 with their championships.

Jazz Blue and Jazz Black were the winners on Saturday in the 14U Division. Jazz Blue won 12-5 over Jazz Yellow. Jazz Black won 7-2 over Jazz White. Jazz Blue was dominant in the 12U Division with a 13-1 victory over Jazz Yellow. In the other game in that division, Jazz White got a slim 12-11 win over Jazz Black.

There was only one game in the Coach Pitch Division with Jazz Blue winning 11-5 over Jazz Yellow. Jazz Yellow won 20-13 over Jazz Blue in the T-Ball Division. In the other T-Ball game, Jazz Black got the better of Jazz White by an 11-4 scoreline.

One of the directors of the foundation, Kim Sweeting, was happy with the response they got.

"'Jazz' is thrilled – he is coming back and giving back to The Bahamas. We are excited to see where this whole season is going to go. We are excited to see how well the players develop since it is a developmental league. We are looking to see how these players develop under these coaches who know the game," Sweeting said.

This is the offseason for baseball in New Providence. Sands said it was intentional that they chose this window to have league play.

"We want no issues with the other leagues or create any turmoil. We want to give these players more games to play and more instructions. We have good coaches out here. We wanted to do it when it was the offseason and have everybody attention. It is also during the offseason for Chisholm and other pro players," Sands said.

Sands also spoke about the possibility of them branching off into the Family Islands. "It is something that we should make known to the Family Islands and somehow get those kids down here from the islands. We just want to do whatever we can do to expand our horizon here in The Bahamas to these kids," Sands said.

According to Sweeting, the foundation is planning to have a fishing tournament in December. They are also looking at putting on a toy drive.

Chisholm's dad, Jasrado Chisholm Sr., delivered the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.

The University of The Bahamas (UB) Athletics Department held its second annual cross country invitational on the grounds of the Queen's Elizabeth Sports Centre on Saturday.

There were over 800 athletes who were in action, looking to secure the top spots in their divisions. UB Mingoes' Head Coach Ednal Rolle said that the meet had an increased number of participants from a year ago, and ran smoother than last year's event.

"After last year we did a postmortem meeting to see how we could make it better this year," Rolle said. "There is still a lot more work that we need to do. Learning from last year, we worked on those logistics. It went well this year as the numbers jumped up. We want to continue to build long distance. When I thought about this course and design, I thought to make cross country fun. I thought about how to make it engaging as a participant, a coach and a spectator. It was a challenge and I think that the athletes got better."

The meet had 12 divisions, from the open category all the way down to the under-9 (U9) category. There were also team awards for the under-20 to under-9 categories.

"There were some good performances from the open event. There was even a record set in that event based on last year's time. There were great times and performances. It is catching on in the long distance races. As a cross country coach, I am learning what you have to do to get better in distance, which includes putting in the miles," Rolle said.

It was a close race in the open male division with Swift Athletics' Christopher Saintus winning in 9:41.39. Bahamas Speed Dynamics' Auston Clarke was second with a time of 9:41.40. Jean Dorelein was third after posting a time of 10:22.93.

Running in a stacked under-20 girls division that had 38 participants, it was 3PA Stallions' Jasmine Mackey who came out on top with a time of 11:46.92. She comfortably finished ahead of second place finisher Grace Farrington who ran for St. Andrew's School. She clocked 11:53.73. Power Athletics' Michal Bullard was third with a time of 12:46.39.

Hurry Murray's Raywind Winder outlasted R.M. Bailey High School's Lataji Moxey in the under-20 boys division to get the gold medal. Winder clocked 10:27 while Moxey ran a time of 10:30 to get the silver medal. Third place was secured by Doris Johnson High School's Fabian Saintil who ran 10:36.

Kids' Athletics' Elexia Strachan crossed the finish line first in the under-11 girls division. She had a time of 3:45.12. Her teammate Kailia Symonette finished second in a time of 3:57.68. X-Treme Athletics' Rayven Munroe ran a time of 3:58.04 to finish third.

Hurry Murray Club came in the meet and won multiple divisions including the under-20 boys, under-17 boys, under-15 girls, under-13 girls and the under-9 boys divisions. The C.R. Walker High School Knights won the under-20 girls division. The Government High School Magic won the under-17 girls division. The C.H. Reeves Junior High School Raptors won the under-15 boys and under-13 boys division. X-Treme Athletics won the under 11-girls and boys and under-9 girls divisions.

As for his cross country runners at the university, Rolle said that there are improvements, although they are middle distance. They traveled to South Florida to run in meets and finished higher than they did last year. The majority of the team also ran personal best times.

Rolle wants to encourage athletes to do long distance as there are opportunities and scholarships at the university for that aspect of the sport.

He said two colleges in the United States have expressed interest in the third edition of the meet next year.

Former Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson yesterday called on the government to provide answers over the $10 million in works underway at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium

"We cannot find any bid jobs related to these $10 million worth of projects on the government's procurement portal," the East Grand Bahama MP said in a statement.

He said the government must reveal who is funding the project; which agency has authority over it; and who are the contractors and the value of their contracts.

"If the project funding is coming from allocations under the management control of a government agency or the National Sports Authority, then the relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Acts 2021 and 2023 must have been followed.

"Where were the opportunities to bid listed on the government procurement portal?

"If they were not listed, the government must explain why it broke the law in the award of these contracts?

"Was there a competitive bidding process?

"Did they go to the Public Procurement Board? Why has the government circumvented the law preventing Bahamians from having the opportunity to benefit from this $10 million project.

"This is typical PLP behavior where their typical arrogance leads them to the wrong-headed conclusion that they do not owe Bahamians a fulsome accounting on matters related to public assets."

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg told The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday that the money is being used for the entire refurbishment of the stadium and the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex.

In April, Bowleg said the last estimate had placed the needed works at the stadium at around $30 million, and the Chinese government offered to assist with funding the repairs.

When asked whether the arrangement was finalized with the Chinese regarding their contribution to the upgrades, the minister said that while the embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have started discussions and reached some kind of an agreement, nothing has been finalized.

As such, he could not reveal how much the Chinese will pump into the renovations.

The stadium was a gift from the People's Republic of China to The Bahamas with a formal handing over taking place in 2011.

It has deteriorated since then.

Bahamian Eugene Stuart is returning to Europe to continue his professional volleyball career after a one-year hiatus. He heads to Portugal to play for the Vitória Sport Clube based in Guimarães, Portugal, for the 2023-2024 season.

Stuart will be playing in the Portuguese Volleyball League A1 - the premier volleyball league in Portugal. It was a tough year but he just kept working, and his agent was able to find him a good contract.

"I just want to go to Europe to do my best," Stuart said. "Obviously, the team saw certain characteristics and certain qualities in me and they have expectations. I generally want to be able to maintain that standard that they are looking for. I know my caliber and strength of play, so I just want to be able to bring my level of play to them and give my best for the season."

Vitória finished the season with a 6-7 win/loss record, placing seventh out of 14 teams. Stuart wants to take them to a higher finish this upcoming season. The season gets underway on October 7.

"I know that they're looking for a stronger team to make it in the playoffs or maybe even to the championship. I've already spoken with some of the staff and that's what they told me. They have bigger goals than they would normally have. Like I said, I want to go there and bring my strength and my expertise," Stuart said.

Although he was inactive last season, Stuart had a busy year playing volleyball as he helped New Providence win the Bahamas Games title and also helped the Tour Daddy Defenders win the New Providence Volleyball Association (NPVA) men's title. He also represented The Bahamas on the senior men's national team at the 18th Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Senior Championships in Paramaribo, Suriname, over the summer.

"It was a good experience this year. We had a good caliber team (national team) this year. We just fell short of our goals, but nonetheless, it's still a learning experience. I'm always happy to play and travel with the national team. It's always great to have your country on your back and represent the country because many people don't get the opportunity. To be able to play and represent the country is always a great experience. We will come back firing on all cylinders the next time we play," Stuart said.

In beach volleyball, Stuart teamed up with Jon Isaacs and the two played on two stops on the 2023 NORCECA (North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Beach Volleyball Tour.

"When I started in beach, I was a bit shaky on my feet, but it wasn't like I was transitioning to a whole new sport - it was still volleyball," Stuart said. "It's just slower timing, smarter and more hard work, but nonetheless you get the hang of it. I think with the transition from beach to indoor, I'm able to still jump. I feel like my jump has gotten higher and I could pass better. It's smarter in terms of blocking and in terms of attacking. I could be able to use those qualities that I learned from beach and transition them over into indoors."

The middle attacker has played in Finland, Romania and more recently in Croatia. He said they take volleyball more seriously in Europe than on this side of the world.

"They (Europe) have more resources, more financing, more leagues and so there's more ability and more availability to play. My teammates play in season, then the volleyball nationals, then the world championships and in Euro leagues, so they have different opportunities to play unlike us. When we go to these countries and we play, we play for eight months and then we come back home and then we possibly have national team play. My teammates continue playing. From this side of the world, we have to work harder to maintain our form, our ability, and our strength. It is put on a higher pedestal in Europe," Stuart said.

It was a good year for Stuart at home, but he is excited to be heading back to Europe to play the sport he loves. He is looking forward to representing The Bahamas on the big stage again. For him, it is a blessing to continue to play the sport professionally.