Ten college teams from throughout the United States visited Grand Bahama for the Annual Junkanoo Jam Thanksgiving Women’s Basketball Tournament. A special reception was held on the Great Lawn at the Grand Lucayan on Thursday evening to formerly welcome the ten ladies basketball teams to Grand Bahama Island. Some 500 persons, inclusive of players, coaches, family members and team supporters arrived in Grand Bahaman for the classic, held at the St. Georges Gym.
The teams: Baylor University, Boston College, Denver University, Louisiana Tech University, Michigan State University, Oklahoma University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Cincinnati, University of Notre Dame, and University of Utah.
Welcoming the United States based squads to Grand Bahama on Thursday, was the manager in charge of the Ministry of Tourism’s local office, Betty Bethel.
Firstly she expressed the Ministry’s heartfelt gratitude to Basketball Travellers for 13 continuous years of Junkanoo Jam on Grand Bahama Island. She especially thanked Neil Holden, President of Basketball Travellers and Sara Morrison, the tournament co-ordinator, for their consistency and hard work in getting the teams to the island year after year. Further, Ms. Bethel told the organizers that the Ministry of Tourism is grateful for their partnership and the economic impact that the elite tournament has had on Grand Bahama Island.
“The residual effect we are also pleased with is that our youth have an opportunity to experience firsthand, top universities engaged in this calibre of basketball, as they make their choices to attend university,” she added.
The tourism executive was also pleased to advise the UCLA squad had earlier in the day participated in a special community programme called Samaritan Feet, organized by their Religious Tourism executive, Pastor Eddie Victor, and that the primary school children in West End were the recipients of 180 pairs of tennis shoes.
Further, she directed attention to Ms. Rosalyn Pinder who had been the Ministry of Tourism point person for the tourney over the past twelve years, and she introduced the new Sports Tourism manager for Freeport, Mr. Nuvolari Chotoosingh.
By: Simon Lewis | BIS
Betty Bethel of the Ministry of Tourism as she welcomed players and coaches from some ten United States-based colleges on Grand Bahama for the Junkanoo Jam Thanksgiving Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Ministry of Tourism officials and the basketball coaches. (BIS Photos/Vandyke Hepburn)
