Despite the rain in recent weeks, the Islands youngsters have still been coming out in their droves in readiness for the start of the Whirlpool Youth Soccer League which is expected to start in earnest within the next week or so after a month of hard and dedicated practices.

Technical Director Mark Hardy noted in an interview yesterday that registrations are almost complete and they are currently finalizing the teams in preparation for the first round of games. Coach Hardy said they hoped to start formal individual squad practices next week (Wednesday 10th) with pre-season friendlies starting the following week, at which point the team uniforms are to be distributed by the coaches. The official first Whirlpool League games of the fall 2007 season are expected to be played on Wednesday October 17th at Freeport Rugby & Football Club.

It was noted that there will be 5 teams competing for the Whirlpool Trophy:

Dynamo Smit
Borco Oilers
Cable Bahamas Stars
GB Shipyard Wanderers
AC Millies Car Rentals

There is an abundance of talented soccer players all ready for the season to start. These players range from the young (but richly talented) players such as Aarron Levarity, James Farquason and Marco Borsetto all of whom are playing above their age groups to more experienced players like Sam Taylor, Andre Turnquest and Christopher Malakious.

The Whirlpool I League forms part of The Dolly Madison Youth Soccer Academy which is for boys aged 9 to 21 years of age. All other age groups continue to practice at the same location (Freeport Rugby & Football Club) each Wednesday. The Soccer Academy offers those young male players, looking to further develop their soccer, an additional means of improving their skills and experience in the game of soccer by offering players further higher level and qualified coaching and additional organized practices and competitive games.

Any interested players or persons interested in helping to coach can contact Mark Hardy at 357 5403 or check www.rugbyfootballbahamas.com

With a new rugby coach straining at the leash , Youth Rugby is ready to start up on Saturday October 13th at 10am at the club.

Coach Herb , who originates from the bedrock of rugby- New Zealand, has moved to the Island with the objective of developing the game of rugby on the Island. October 13th gives the first opportunity to any youngster (whatever 6 to 18), boy or girl who are interested in learning the game to give it a try ( no pun intended).

Youngsters will be split up by sex and age to ensure a safe and fun environment in which to learn the game.

Come along and see where the real action is . Contact Herb at 352 2952 for more details

Herb and Vic skins vs the Rest


Here's the Schedule (all times Bahamian)

Oct. 6th
10am Australia vs. England (camm on ingerlund)
3pm New Zealand vs. France (allez les noir)

Oct. 7th
10am South Africa vs. Fiji (fiiiijeeeeeeeee!)
3pm Argentina vs. Scotland ( errm both of you can lose as far as i'm concerned)

Semi-Finals are on Oct. 13th (Aus/Eng vs. NZ/Fra) & 14th (SA/Fij vs. Arg/Sco),


Final on Oct. 20th


Check Herb at the club for details ( 352 2952) or Committee Member

Small $5 cover charge may apply ( don't moan it cost me $20 to watch the dirge that England served up last week in a pub in lauderdale)

After a break over the summer months, The Dolly Madison Youth Soccer Academy ( formerly the Grand Bahama Youth Soccer Development Programme) is scheduled to restart on Wednesday September 11th at Freeport Rugby Football Club at 5pm for all boys aged 9 to 21 years of age .

At present the following age levels will be coached on a weekly basis: Under 10s, Under 13s, 14 to 17 year olds, and 18 and over.

The Programme provides a framework which complements the YMCA and School programmes by offering players further higher level and qualified coaching and additional organized practices and competitive games.

Under its first full season with new sponsor Dolly Madison and Whirlpool, the Academy continues to expand and has ambitious plans for the future year including:

*Being able to utilize the new and expanded training facilities at Freeport Rugby & Football Club which are likely to open in early 2008. These will include a full size soccer pitch , 2 training areas and a 5 a side pitch ,

*Expanding of the Whirlpool Intermediate League, which is for boys aged 14 to 17 , from four teams to six or seven once the new pitches come on stream

*Continuing to assist in young players obtaining soccer scholarships to US Colleges. This summer , 3 players who have come through the ranks of the Soccer Academy obtained Soccer scholarships.

*Both hosting and touring against other Bahamian Islands and US teams in order that the players get the correct exposure to different players, other styles of play etc

Any interested players or persons interested in helping to coach can contact Mark Hardy at 357-5403 or come to Freeport Rugby and Football Club from 5pm every Wednesday.

Whilst it will not cost us Six Mllion Dollars, the Club is back for the new season ; Re-vigorated , new pitches on the way , a fresh input of talent and a new man at the helm.


The club officially opened this week with rugby training on monday followed by women's soccer tuesday and men's soccer wednesday. Youth soccer starts on wednesday 12th .


The Presidents Cocktail Party is slated for Friday September 28th .

This season the Club have bought in Herb to promote youth rugby . Herb brings a wealth of experience and know-how and that kiwi charm.

So no excuse now to join up , come for a run around , watch or come and sip a cool beer

In an effort to build bridges with the wives and girlfriends and hence enable to spend more hours at the club watching the world cup , here are a few basic rules for the Laydeeeees .

If, however, you cannot convince your better half to join you at the Club, please be re-assured that our new man Herb ( or Erb if your jamiaican or American ) has already been told about the golden rule

if the wife/girlfriend phones up, you've just left the Clubhouse and thus should be home shortly


RULES AND RUSES

The Match Each team has 15 players, eight burly forwards and seven much prettier backs. Matches are 10 minutes shorter than in football - that's 80 minutes of bare-faced, politically incorrect, thrilling brutality.

Passing You're only allowed to pass the ball to someone level with you, or behind you. You can move forwards by running the gauntlet of enemy defenders while desperately clutching the ball to your chest.

Tackling Apart from tackling above the shoulders, opposing players are allowed to do pretty much anything they want in order to get the ball off you - and they do. Crushing your face into the mud and belly-flopping on top of you are all encouraged. Watch and weep.


Scoring A Try, worth five points, is scored by running with the ball over the opponent's goal line and planting it on the ground in a triumphant manner. You're then given the opportunity to "convert" the Try - which means kicking it over the crossbar between two posts for another two points. If the opposition commits a foul, you get a penalty kick worth three points. Finally, you can take a Jonny Wilkinson-style drop kick during open play while everyone is doing their damndest to get the ball off you. Very difficult, so worth three points.


Lineouts These occur when the ball goes off the pitch. The players line up next to one another, the ball is thrown between them and they all perform acrobatic feats of athleticism in order to grab it.

The Scrum When play needs to be restarted there will be a scrum. Each team's forwards put their arms around each other and lock necks with the opposition. Their aim is to drive their enemies off the ball.

Rucks These are the bits that look like a body-builders' street brawl. They occur when everyone's trying to get their hands on the ball after someone's been tackled to the floor.

Club's youth players obtain US College scholarships

Youth soccer on Grand Bahama, and the Club in particular, received a further boost this week when 3 players obtained soccer scholarships from US Colleges. The 3 players, who have all progressed from the Dolly Madison Youth Soccer Academy at Freeport Rugby & Football Club, have been accepted to attend Oklahoma University of Science and Arts. The players expect to be traveling to their new surroundings next week to commence the next stage of their academic and soccer careers.

Dominic Adams has probably been the stand out young soccer player on the Island for the last 5 years having started playing with the Mens Freeport Rugby & Football Club at the tender age of 14. Dominic is a skilful midfielder who has won numerous awards (Young Player of the Year, MVP etc) and has been courted by numerous colleges in the US. Having weighed up his options, Dominic has now decided to attend Oklahoma to study Physiotherapy.

Antonio Charles will be joining his team mate at Oklahoma where he will be studying Civil Engineering. Antonio is another ‘big ‘player on the Island who is equally adept at playing in midfield or as a striker. A former student at St Georges High School Antonio is looking forward to the challenge ahead.

Mcyver Dean has come a long way for a five foot nothing’full back! Always known as a strong defender , McGyver has spent hours honing his ball skills and has improved greatly in this area in recent years; so much so that last year he was called up to the Bahamas National Squad. Mcyver intends to study Engineering at Oklahoma

In addition to these 3 players, Rika Bazile and Nichelson Archie Charles are also currently in talks with US Colleges concerning soccer scholarships and it is hoped that both will also shortly be accepted into Colleges shortly. Rika and Archie both graduated from Eight Mile Rock High School and formed the nucleus of the High School soccer team for a number of years . Rika is looking to study engineering whilst Archie will pursue an IT academic career.

All five players are part of the Dolly Madison Youth Soccer Academy which is for boys aged 9 to 21 years of age . They were all part of the Academy’s victorious Brita Red Bulls which , despite consisting of players all aged 16 to 20 years of age, won the last GBFL adult football title in 2005/6. The Academy will open its doors for the new season in Early September. It is hoped that the Academy will be able to utilize the expanded training facilities, including an additional full-size pitch , 2 practice fields and a 5 aside area at the club which are scheduled to be completed in early 2008.

Academy Director Mark Hardy was understandably ecstatic about the scholarships noting that the Academys original 5 year plan had included ‘getting players away ‘ on soccer scholarships in order to further their education and development. He said “ I have constantly harped onto the players that , whilst I would like to coach them indefinitely , I would prefer that they all left the Academy to pursue a College education . Winning the local soccer league was nice but they needed to look at the big picture , get a scholarship , further your education and develop life skills . Playing soccer ( or indeed any sport) can do this for you . I am immensely proud of all of the players who are going away to College. Players like Dom and Rica have been with me since the beginning of the programme 5 years ago and they should serve as a great example to the younger players coming through the Academy Programme. We have worked hard to achieve this alongside Dwayne Jennnings of Search Bahamas and it is great to see this hard work pay off. I would like to thank Dwayne for his help as well as the other coaches who have helped over the years in the Academy’s programme at Freeport Rugby and Football Club .

In order to celebrate the scholarships and to mark the end of an era , there will be a celebratory football game this Friday at Freeport Rugby & Football Club beginning at 7pm. All five players will join forces as the reigning league champions will re-unite in a match against their close rivals Freeport FC All Star XI. It is anticipated that the game will be a great send off for the young players as they close this particular chapter of their lives. All spectators and well wishes are invited to attend.

The fourth English Premier League Grand Bahama Soccer Camp was by common consent the best yet. The biggest attendance, the best coaching and the most fun so far.

In fact the youngsters taking part enjoyed it so much that 120 of them still turned up before kick-off on Day Four despite torrential rain which had been falling without a break since before dawn. It continued through the day and so did the soccer, except when there was a thunderstorm nearby. Many of the kids even jumped in the pool – after all when you are wet through you cannot get any wetter!

The bad weather continued through the last day but luckily held off for the awards ceremony where there was plenty to celebrate. Unfortunately Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State for Finance, missed it. He had kindly agreed to honour the camp by conducting the closing ceremony but instead sat on the tarmac in Nassau for two hours with his Bahamasair flight unable to take off because of the bad weather conditions

The event was again hosted by Freeport Rugby and Football Club. It was the last to be held there before the ground expansion, partly funded by the Premier League, takes place. This will see the girls development programme moving from its current Saturday venue at Grand Bahama Catholic School to join the midweek boys programme at the club.

The expansion will more than double the grassed area with a second pitch as well as a practice area, and a five-a-side soccer court where the old fire station used to stand.

The coaches included two regulars – Phil French, a leading UK sports administrator, on his fourth camp, and former international playing star Luther Blissett, on his third – and a new lead coach, Paul Nesbit. Paul proved a real livewire not only exciting the kids but inspiring the local coaches to new levels. All three want to return next year.

Even the closing party/dinner held at the restaurant at the Taino Beach Resort was a big success with the auction items – including a signed David Beckham England shirt – raising thousands of dollars. The proceeds of the dinner and the camp will all go to the development of youth sport on the island as it has in previous years.

Each of the visiting coaches commented on how they were impressed by the skill levels of the children and both Phil and Luther spoke in ZNS TV interviews of how they had seen dramatic improvements over the years.

The organisers would like to thank all those who supported the event . It would not have been so successful without the help of the many who gave their time and energy to give the kids a good time and to raise money for an important cause.

Soccer icon and global celebrity David Beckham will make his debut for US soccer team LA Galaxy next month after a $250million deal – the biggest in history - to transfer from newly-crowned Spanish League champions Real Madrid.

The $1m-a-week midfielder and former captain of Englands international team (pictured here playing for his country) and his wife, ex-pop idol Victoria (Posh Spice of The Spice Girls), are certain to add Hollywood A-list status to their existing glossy magazine front cover existence.

There is now a chance for sports fans on Grand Bahama to get a small slice of the action.

An England shirt signed by the superstar (it comes with a letter of authenticity) will be one of the lots coming under the hammer at an auction at Taino Beach Resort restaurant, Jolly Roger Drive, on Friday June 29.

And for soccer fans there is the chance of landing a unique duo because another lot is a signed shirt from John Terry, the Chelsea central defender and the current England captain.

The auction comes at the closing party/dinner of the annual Premier League Soccer Camp which starts on June 25 at Freeport Rugby and Football Club. The dinner features a full European buffet, live entertainment and a raffle as part of the fun, AND the event is open to the public.

Fans of other sports are not neglected, particularly those who are part of the Canadian community on the island. Among other lots are a signed jersey from Chris Bosh, MVP of the Toronto Raptors (pictured here) and court-side seats at a Raptors game. There are also premium seats at the Leafs games for those hockey fans.

Tickets are only $30 a head and can be obtained from the Rugby Club during soccer camp week and Stuart Garner (374 2372), Rob Speller (727 0802), and Mark Hardy (357 5403) before then. Fans who cannot make the date, but would still like to bid, can do so by calling Rob Speller or Stuart Garner. The live auction begins at around 9.30pm.

Final registration for the camp itself takes place this coming Sunday afternoon, June 24, at the club on East Settlers Way. Children who are signed up will walk away with armfuls of goodies, including two full soccer uniforms, t-shirt, cap, sweatbands, and personal drinking cup. Check-in is open from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

The organisers would like to thank The Bahamas Weekly for kindly making space available to publicise the camp and dinner – all proceeds for both go to the development of youth sport on Grand Bahama.