NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Charles Maynard joined the Bahamas Baseball Federation in officially endorsing an initiative by Bahamasair that affords Bahamian fans of professional baseball player Antoan Richardson a chance to see him in a Major League Baseball game in Miami, Florida.
“We have had tremendous success over the years in baseball,” Minister Maynard said at a press conference on September 14, 2011.
“Bahamians have played in the professional leagues at all levels, in the United States and Europe. What has been elusive to us for a few decades has been a spot on one of the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in the United States.
“So, we are very happy that we now have a young man who has come up through the system in The Bahamas,” Minister Maynard added.
Bahamasair created a package for Bahamians to attend the three-game-series between Mr. Richardson’s team, the Atlanta Braves, and the Florida Marlins, September 19 – 21, at the Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida. The package is inclusive of airfare, car rental and a night in a hotel for $279. Hotel taxes and other fees still apply.
Director of Sales and Marketing for Bahamasair Mr. Mike Sands said that they saw this as an opportunity of creating this package for Bahamians to see Mr. Richardson play, while using what he termed a “natural fit” with their core market of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
“We sat our unit down at our unit at work and came up with this strategy that we felt would make it as attractive and as economically feasible as possible, during these economic time,” Mr. Sands said.
“We have put together this package for family and friends, in particular, that will permit persons to take advantage of the opportunity to go on to Florida and support Antoan and his efforts in his debut and to let him know how much we as Bahamians appreciate him being on the world stage — and in this case in baseball – and we are encouraging everyone to attend this event.”
Minister Maynard pointed out that Mr. Richardson started out in the Freedom Farm baseball league, a part of the Bahamas Baseball Federation.
President of the Bahamas Baseball Federation Mr. Craig Kemp said that the entire federation congratulates Mr. Richardson on his accomplishment, especially since he came up through their leagues, and it endorsed the package being offered by Bahamasair.
“We are very, very pleased and we are excited about what Bahamasair has done, in appreciation, to extend this package to the general public,” Mr. Kemp said.
“He is homegrown and he is now playing for the Atlanta Braves; so we are trying to encourage Bahamians to go out and support our newest Bahamian sports icon, as they do a special series in Florida with the Florida Marlins,” Minister Maynard said.
“As the Minister said, he is a homegrown son of the soil and we all have been privileged to watch Antoan grow and mature from a young baseball player and into the player that he is today,” Mr. Kemp added.
“We want to encourage as many Bahamians as possible to support him and to show the world that we are proud of our athletes across the board and in particular Antoan, as he continues to make us all proud at that level of play,” Minister Maynard said.
By ERIC ROSE
Bahamas Information Services
