American football has been a part of the sports scene in The Bahamas since the 1950's, but has never blossomed into a mainstream sport here in the country. The league has managed to stay afloat despite a reduction in support over the years. Also, in recent years, the sport has had to compete with flag football in terms of garnering support, but now, efforts are being made to rejuvenate American football once again.
This weekend, Hall of Fame quarterback and former Miami Dolphins NFL player Dan Marino, along with 10 of his legendary friends, will conduct a youth football clinic here in The Bahamas. The clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium on Saturday.
In September, the first historical black colleges and universities game will be played and Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, and then a college football bowl game will take place in December as the first ever Bahamas Bowl takes place on Christmas Eve.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson has been an advocate of American football here in The Bahamas. He has shown initiative in getting various football events to be staged here in the country. At a recent press event promoting the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) game, Minister Johnson stated that he wants to start implementing American football into the schools.
"We are trying to put a team together at the College of The Bahamas (COB) to play in this conference. I know some kids with the size ability to compete, and I know that they can play, but we don't have American football in our schools," said Johnson. "This is a game that we can play, and it can be used as a gateway for our students. This is going to open doors for us by starting this University of Bahamas team that plays in a league. It will be an experience Bahamian students can have home and abroad, opening scholarship opportunities, and giving young men the opportunities that sports has to offer."
There are a total of 20,145 division one football scholarships given out each year, an additional 7,650 to 1AA schools, and 5,904 given out amongst division two schools which adds up to more than $5 billion in scholarships, and that doesn't even include junior colleges and high schools. Football is big business in the United States and it also can help young Bahamians to achieve their academic goals by allowing them to further their education. The sport has loyal fans and dedicated coaches, and many think it's now time for The Bahamas to catch on and begin to implement American football into the elementary and high school systems."
There was an effort to promote the sport last year by the Cape Fear Heroes, a professional indoor football team from Fayetteville, North Carolina (USA). The Cape Fear Heroes is also a member of the American Indoor Football League, which formed a partnership with the Bahamas American Football Federation (BAFF) to help promote the sport of American football here in The Bahamas. The plan was also to give older players a chance to try out for a professional football team, but it has never been executed on a year-round basis.
It is said to be easier for an athlete to make it to the National Football League (NFL), than to make it to the National Basketball Association (NBA) because of the size of an NFL roster. It is also said to be easier to make it to the NFL, than making it as a track athlete, because of the various positions one can play for. Still, there are basketball leagues and tournaments that take place every summer, and track meets that go on year-round, but hardly any youth football program or tournaments are held here in The Bahamas.
The BAFF is a member of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and The Bahamas Youth Football (BYF) program is open for any high school athlete to participate. According to reports, the BAFF is organized and operated democratically without any racial, religious, political or gender discrimination.
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