In an effort to maximize the amount of opportunities available to Bahamian children through sports, the Ministry of Education Sports Unit plans to further develop some of the niche sports in the country this year.
According to Sports Unit Director for the Ministry of Education Evon Wisdom, developing those niche sports, such as bowling, judo, equestrian and archery, will go a long way toward helping more Bahamian children get college educations.
"One of the things we want to do is diversify the menu for young people, along the lines of Olympic development," he said. "One of the ways we thought to do it was through the existing federations and clubs in the country. We chose to focus on sports that would assist student athletes in particular at the Olympic level.
"What you had in the past were individuals that took it upon themselves to learn or take up a niche sport. Now we are making it open to all students, allowing them the opportunity to pick and choose what they may be interested in."
Similar to what has been done with track and field and basketball in the past, Wisdom said that the niche sports could also attract international competition to The Bahamas, which could add to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture's "Sports in Paradise" campaign that's currently in place.
"If you look at what has been done with the IAAF World Relays and the numerous basketball tournaments that come here, they come because we have established athletes and programs in those sports," said Wisdom. "They won't come unless we have something in place. And it's up to us to ensure that our kids aren't boxed in. We have to get out of this small-minded way of thinking and reach for more than what we already have.
"We see sports as a means to do so much in the country. We can better our kids, provide jobs and bring millions of visitors in. We're sitting on something so special. The same way our teams are now regulars at certain tournaments overseas, we can have that here."
Last year, the ministry's sport unit established national championships in a number of sports for the first time, including equestrian, bowling, soccer, baseball, sailing, volleyball and basketball.

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