The winners of the Hugh Campbell Basketball Invitational have more than just a championship trophy, they also got the chance to dine with the nation's leader.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham gave the opportunity to the members of the C.C. Sweeting senior boys basketball team yesterday. The team clinched the Hugh Campbell title in late February, overcoming the Eight Mile Rock Blue Jays.
Ingraham hosted a lunch for the champions at Virgil's restaurant at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.
"This came about as a result of last year when you played the R.M. Bailey Pacers," Ingraham told the team during the luncheon. "My wife (Delores Ingraham, principal of C.C. Sweeting High School) assured me you were going to win the championship and [asked] would I buy lunch for (the team) and I said 'yes'. And when you didn't win I said I better buy lunch for the Pacers and I did. And of course she insisted this year that I do the same thing. So I suppose that this is going to become an annual event. So if you want to have lunch with the prime minister of The Bahamas as a group, you're going to have to win the championship again," Ingraham added.
The prime minister also told the team that they should try to excel both on and off the court and announced that the government plans to build a gymnasium at the school in the future.
"We are very appreciative of what you do. It's very good that you are focused on the game. We also want you to be focused on your school work, so that you can become productive citizens. We look forward to the day when you can have a gym at C.C. Sweeting so that you can play basketball. While some of you would have graduated by the time we build it, a few of you would still be around," he said.
Alvano Miller, a member of the team, thanked the prime minister for the opportunity.
"It's very rare," he said. "The prime minister has not done this for many people, so we are very thankful."
Asked why he believes his team was victorious, Miller said the team worked very hard.
"The coach always got us out of bed at six in the morning and we just worked very hard," Miller said, adding that he looks forward to doing the same thing again next year.

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