From left, President of The Bahamas Bowling Federation Joanne Woodside Powell, Coach Angela Smith, Deputy Director of Education Joel Lewis, Manager of Mario's Bowling & Entertainment Palace Leslia Brice, Chief Operating Officer of Island Luck Adriana Fox, Senior Education Officer of High School Physical Education Keith Saunders and Social Media Manager of Bamboo Rasdeniro Thompson cut the ceremonial ribbon to mark the opening of the National High Schools Bowling League yesterday. (Photo: Torrell Glinton)
In an effort to provide another avenue for local students to gain scholarships and advance their educations, the National Sports Secretariat yesterday officially launched one of the new sports that is going to be introduced into the high school curriculum.
The Ministry of Education Sports Unit, in conjunction with strategic partners - Mario's Bowling Palace, Bamboo Shack, the Island Luck Cares Foundation, BTC and the Bahamas Bowling Federation (BBF) - will put on the National High Schools Bowling League.
The ceremony, which was held at Mario's, was capped off with a ribbon cutting ceremony and exhibition game between some of the students present from the participating schools.
Director of the ministry's sports unit Evon Wisdom said that he hopes one day bowling can become a staple in every school's extra curricular sports program.
"I have to thank our sponsors. These people have done a big part in helping these kids have an opportunity to better themselves," he said. "There's a cost involved with using this kind of facility (Mario's), and they have done so much to assist with that.
"There are a lot of opportunities in the sport of bowling, especially for young women, to further their education. The wave has started today, and it's not going to stop."
As of now, the league is only a pilot program and features just a select few public schools. All of the games will be played at Mario's, and the official schedule will be released this week.
"Mario's started off as a dream just 10 years ago, and I am ecstatic to be here today," said Mario's Bowling representative Leslia Miller-Brice. "Over the course of those 10 years, we had a lot of colleges and universities come to us, asking if we had any students interested in bowling.
"Hopefully by creating this league, we can get our students to fill some of those slots."
Bamboo Shack representative Rasdeniro Thompson said that Bamboo Shack is excited to be a part of the league and knows the importance of being a good corporate partner.
"This is really a big deal," he said. "On behalf of CEO Elaine Pinder and General Manager Gandhi Pinder, I can say that we look forward to these kind of things. We have worked with a number of other sports in the past, and we hope we can help produce some athletes that can make it to the next level."
Longtime national team member Angie Smith will serve as the head coach of the program.
"Along with other experienced bowlers and myself, we are going to take our time and work on this slowly," she said. "We are going to work with these schools and try to develop the sport the best we can."
Some of the schools currently involved with the program are C.R. Walker, Doris Johnson, C.H. Reeves and Oakes Field Primary.
Randy Smith, Guardian Sports Reporter
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
