BY DENISE MAYCOCK

Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Latin America and Caribbean Little League Congress held its Annual General Meeting in Freeport to discuss plans for the upcoming 2016 baseball tournament and rules and regulations and amendments for this year.

More than 25 countries in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, were represented at the meeting, which was held at Pelican Bay Resort on Friday.

Speaking at the opening, Senator Greg Burrows, founding president of the Freedom Farms Baseball League (FFBL) and the Bahamas Baseball Federation, said he will try to ensure that more resources are made available to help with tournaments and for the development of little league baseball in The Bahamas.  

Also attending from Grand Bahama were Eddie Claude, district administrator for The Bahamas, and Brian Hanna, a committee member.

Claude, who invited the congress to hold the AGM in The Bahamas, said the meeting is important because it is when all representatives come together to discuss the business of little league baseball.

“We discuss tournaments, when and where it is going to be held, the rules and regulations, and we vote of amendments that are made,” he said.

“It is really a fantasic feeling to see the amount of response (in terms of participation) we got at the Congress.”

Claude, who is the representative for the Bahamas, said he would be making a presentation to the Congress for the Bahamas to host the little league tournament in either 2017 or 2018.

“I was very happy to hear Senator Burrows speak about getting more resources committed to baseball, but I think the corporate community should also contribute because they benefit when persons come here to attend the tournament.

“The last time we did the tournament here we had over 800 people visiting on this little island of ours and they spent money in the community,” Claude said.  

Brian Hanna, committee member, said that there are three leagues in Grand Bahama - Grand Bahama Amateur Baseball Association, the Legacy Baseball Association and Uprising Stars Baseball Association.

He said that hosting such international tournaments will provide significant exposure for baseball in the Bahamas.  

“Baseball is alive in the Bahamas and we want to encourage more involvement and support from corporate community. Hopefully, with a meeting of this magnitude we can get some support from both the public and private sectors,” Mr Hanna said.

He noted that financial assistance is needed to help develop and prepare young baseballers in Grand Bahama. “We are in dire need of infrastructure in terms of more fields and to be able to play year round…if we want to take part in these international tournaments,” he said.  

He indicated that most of those leagues in the Caribbean countries play year round.

“The three to four months we play is not going to be sufficient for us to compete on the international arena, and so we have to find time to make provisions for baseball to be played year round, and that is going to require a lot of assistance from the community and from our government,” he said.