By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the change in leadership, the Bahamas Softball Federation is pressing forward to rejuvenate its Family Island Associations and to extend an olive branch to the New Providence Softball Association, according to newly elected president Marvin “Togie” Wood.

After the elections on Friday night, Wood said he heard the plea from his fourth vice president Stephvano Bevans, who also serves as the president of the Grand Bahama Softball Association, for more umpires and coaches’ clinics on the island.

This weekend, Wood said they will be sending Martin “Pork” Burrows, the chief umpire for both baseball and softball in the Bahamas, to Grand Bahama to conduct the first in a series of softball and baseball clinics in Grand Bahama.

“This is a good way to get the ball rolling,” Wood said. “We want the people in Grand Bahama to understand that we heard their cries about umpiring and scoring and on fast pitch when it comes to pitching.

“Our goal is to get every association up and running and we will start in Grand Bahama with this umpire training course with our chief umpire Martin Burrows this weekend. We want anybody interested in umpiring to come out.”

Burrows said he’s looking at starting the clinic around 10am at the Emera Baseball Parlk. “As I told Marvin, the Family Islands have been neglected for too long,” said Burrows, who just held a similar clinic in Eleuthera. 

“We have to reach out to them. Abaco will be next. We have to reach out to all of the Family Islands. I can only do my part.”

For his part, Burrows said he hopes the umpires will come out because he’s going to be there to give them the instructions.

“They have to come out. I know there are some interests, but we will have to wait and see,” Burrows summed up. “It’s opened up to everybody, softball and baseball. You can learn to umpire both.”

Once this clinic is completed, Wood said the federation will be reaching out to all of the affiliated islands who play fastpitch to ascertain what is needed and how best they can assist them in getting their programmes up and running.

“We want to get the executive teams for all of these associations and then