23 Aug 2006 | Rugby
Freeport Rugby and Football Club are pleased to announce the new club management team of Tomi, Kim and Ella Gration who take up residency this week .
Our new sheriff has a wealth of expereince in all things finnish and we all look forward to the club continuing to move forward in leaps and bounds.
As is tradition, all potential nicknames for our erstwhile manager should be forwarded to the usual suspects at which point a suitably derogatory name will no doubt be chosen. Bear in mind we have a rich history of particularly humorous names such as 'cabin boy' and the classically named 'Chuckles' ( thanks phil for that one)7 Jul 2006 | Rugby
Because soccer is a growing sport, particularly among the youngsters of Grand Bahama, having more space and more fields on which the kids can learn and play the game was quickly becoming more of a demand than anything else.
Well, that demand has been met by the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
On Wednesday the Port announced that it has donated three acres of land to the Freeport Rugby and Football Club for a new soccer field. Good news for officials of the Grand Bahama Football Association.
"Over the years, the Principals of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Sir Jack Hayward, the late Edward St. George and Lady Henrietta St. George, are well known for their commitment to the youth of Freeport and Grand Bahama," said Geneva Rutherford, who represented the Port Authority, during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
"The Grand Bahama Port Authority see tremendous opportunities in the athletic development of our youth and in this regard is very pleased to be a partner in this venture with the Rugby and Football Club."
Rutherford is confident that the land donated by the Port will be put to good use by the Grand Bahama Association.
The announcement came as soccer kids participate in a soccer summer camp, being conducted by the English Premier Soccer League at the Freeport Rugby Football Club.
The announcement is also timely, because not only has land been made to the development of soccer, but the English Premier Soccer League has stepped up to the plate and made a substantial monetary donation, along with their expertise, to be used in conjunction with the land donated.
"The English Premier Soccer League has been actively involved in the development of youth soccer in Freeport for the past three years," Mikala Moss of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.
"While summer 2006 concludes their direct involvement, they intend to play a vital role in the future development of soccer in Grand Bahama."
Philip French, of the Premier Soccer League, noted that since getting involved in the summer soccer camp, he has seen the number of eager, excited youngsters grow by leaps and bounds.
"We hope that we will leave an impact on the kids here in Grand Bahama, which will go a long way in the development of the sport, particularly among the teenagers who we hope will be in a position to obtain scholarships through the sport of soccer," said French.
"It's great for us to have been a part of this and we're even more pleased to be able to leave a legacy behind."
French said that their donation will come in a variety of ways - from the Premier League, via their charity, otherwise known as the Football Foundation.
"That charity, which is set up with the Government in the UK, will partnership with the local soccer league to try develop youth development as well as provide infrastructure for kids of all ages and abilities," said French.
"The combination of all of that will provide us with a total of somewhere around $100,000 towards the development of the artificial pitch. We're gonna see multiple coaching programmes and we will build on what we already have going on here with the summer camp."
"From our point of view, we see a fantastic development of the kids. And what has soccer brought them? It's brought them skills, leadership and the ability to work as a team.
"It's been amazing the impact soccer has had on them. And we're proud to be a part of that."
Having to use the Rugby Football Club Playing field for soccer will soon become something of the past.
As more and more kids become involved in the sport of soccer, more and more opportunities are expected to be opened to them.
Soccer officials and coaches are hoping that the kids will take advantage of those opportunities.
DEVELOPING SOCCER - Philip French of the English Premier Soccer League (left) and Geneva Rutherford of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (right) revealed plans for the development of local soccer with the donation of land and funds from both the Premier Soccer League and the GB Port Authority29 May 2006 | Rugby
The Grand Bahama Football League completed its season this weekend with the Champions All Star games and the end of season awards ceremeony afterwards at Freeport Rugby Football Club.
Womens champions were Town and Country Predators
Mens champions were Brita Red Bulls
Individual awards were as follows:
Rookie of year:
Tremainne Simmons (women) Daniel Jean (men - brita)
Defender of the year
Joey Smith (women) Rika Bazile (men - brita )
Fair Play
Sabrina Winter (women) Michael Strachan (men)
Golden Boot
McQuella Moxey (women - jets ) TBA (men)
GBFL award
Debbie Borsetto (women - jets) Keznel Etienne (men)
Young Player
Chelsea Smith (women - jets ) Roger Johnson (men - brita )
MVP
Symone Stubbs (women) Rika Bazile (men - brita )
GBFL season finished however during the summer :
Intermediate Boys aged 14 to 17 practising from 5.30 to 6.30 pm every Wednesday at GBFL field
Men to continue scrimmaging from 6.30pm every Wednesday at the GBFL field. Women’s day to be arranged.
Negotiations still ongoing for touring youth teams and mens teams over the summer
Annual Summer Soccer Camp along with English Premier League from July 3rd to July 7th. Contact Mark Hardy for details at 357 540325 May 2006 | Rugby
This Sunday saw a title showdown at Freeport Rugby Football Club as Brita Red Bulls took on Insurance Management Lions in a game between two teams with serious title aspirations.
After a years sabbatical, this season’s men’s title has had all sorts of twists and turns as neither Freeport FC nor Insurance Management Lions appeared to want to take the intitiative as they led the table during the course of the season but were unable to pull away from the other teams. Consequently Brita Red Bulls , who had persistently hung around the top two positions all season and had ( in racing terms) now snuck up on the inside rails and thus simply needed to win on Sunday to secure the title .
A cagey start to the game by both teams was interrupted by some bright wing play on the right from Archie Charles of the Red Bulls . One such piece of trickery resulted in namesake Antonio Charles calmly steering a header past the Lions keeper for a one goal lead. All credit to the Lions , however, as they came straight back down the field to equalize via a penalty by Ricky Hutchinson.
The second half saw the younger Brita Red Bull up the tempo in the early stages with good work in midfield by Fabio Cortes, Dominic Adams and Wilfred Guerrier in particular. This effort was rewarded with 20 minutes remaining as the ever dangerous Daniel Jean broke clear of a tired looking Lions defence to slot the ball home for the all important leading goal. Knowing that, in reality, only a victory and hence two goals would secure the title for them, Lions began to press forward in the closing stages especially as the Red Bulls team began to concede the midfield. However resolute defending from Rika Bazille, Wayne Reckley , McGyver Dean and Andrew Bell ensured that 16 year old goalkeeper Roger Johnson was rarely troubled as the game wound down.
The final whistle was greeted with joyous scenes as the Brita Red Bulls clinched their first league title in only their second season in the league - a tremendous achievement for a team with an average age of 19 . A measure of the youthfulness of the side is that approximately half of the team are still at school , indeed a good proportion of the players are part of the Eight Mile Rock High School team that , in the space of 5 days, have won the Island’s School Soccer Championship, The Northern Bahamas School Championship and now the senior GBFL title !!!
Red Bulls coach Husseyin Dengizer felt his team deserved the victory and the title saying they had practiced harder and more frequently than the other teams and that this commitment, coupled with their undoubted talent, meant they were worthy winners of the title. Fellow coach Mark Hardy was also proud of his young players saying that the original objective for this team was twofold:
1) for the team to provide a stepping stone between youth soccer and adult soccer
2) for the players to act as role models to the younger players in the Development Programme which runs for boys aged 8 to 21
I am pleased that both objectives are being met and hopefully this will help progress the development of youth soccer in particular and soccer in general on Grand Bahama. Coach Hardy also wished to thank their sponsors Brita Water, Bristol Cellars , Red Bull and Freeport Rugby Football Club for their ongoing support for the team.22 May 2006 | Rugby
Following on from the recent testimonials for Roy Keane and Alan Shearer, Freeport FC are pleased to announce the upcoming testimonial for Jimmy Fingers and Cabin Boy this Friday at Freeport Rugby Football Club commencing at 6.30pm – traffic permitting. It is hoped that a galaxy of international superstars will be lining up in opposition to pay tribute to the skills and contributions of the 2 club members. Failing that , if you bring your boots you may get a game !!! Indeed , rumour has it that the evening may well turn out to be ‘bragging rights match’ as the newly crowned GBFL champions Brita Red Bull ( aka the yout) take on Freeport FC ( aka the old gits). The latter firmly believe that the youngsters may well be GBFL champions but are still the second best team at the club !! should be interesting.
Enough of the bickering though. Friday’s game is a tribute to Fingers and Cabin Boy who are both moving onto pastures new. Cabin Boy (pictured right) has just been accepted into the prestigious Cheltenham School for Girls where he will be majoring in hair styling and general gayness . His recent predilection of hanging around the island’s high schools has helped his cause no end in this respect. Rumours he is being mentored by Professor G. Glitter have not been confirmed at this stage.
Jimmy Fingers (pictured left) is moving to Eckingthorpe Pie Eaters FC where he will combine his centre-forward role with that of managing the club’s tuckshop .
Famous for his famous ‘no look air shot’ which was perfected in the recent tour to Miami , Fingers will leave some big shorts to fill at the club.
Kick off is 6.30 Friday at Freeport Rugby Football Club
