Home|Sports|Soccer high school nationals returnsSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailMay 4, 2023 170 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
After a three-year year hiatus, due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Samuel P. Haven Jr. National High School Soccer Championships are back and will be held in five match day windows between May 19-27 on Grand Bahama and New Providence. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training’s building.
The tournament will be staged by the ministry’s sports unit in conjunction with the Bahamas Football Association (BFA), the National Sports Secretariat and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.
The tournament will encompass 16 teams – eight boys and eight girls squads battling to be crowned national champions in their respective divisions. There will be a Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy awarded in both divisions.
Senior Sports Officer at the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Evon Wisdom thanked the BFA for their support in ensuring that the tournament returned.
“We are extremely proud of the work that the BFA has done, and we look at this as a model for the future where the associations play a more active role in the decision-making and organization of the events,” Wisdom said. “As per normal, the BFA is one of the first ones to do so.”
Wisdom added that funding for the tournament was covered mostly by the BFA.
BFA President Anton Sealy said they are happy to bring back the tournament.
“We’ve had a three-year hiatus, and that was due to COVID, and we’ve been, as with most sports, slow in coming back around. We’re back and we’re back in a big way,” Sealy said. “We are very excited to once again host this tournament. The tournament will have participation from the three major islands. Our main goal is to ensure that as we put on future tournaments and championships, that we will incorporate more islands, but this edition we have is for Abaco, Grand Bahama and New Providence.”
The school leagues that will be represented are the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS), the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA), the Grand Bahama Secondary Schools Sports Association (GBSSSA) and the Abaco School Sports Association (ASSA). The GSSSA and GBSSSA soccer seasons are still ongoing.
The format is a single-elimination. The first match day is slated for Friday, May 19 in Freeport, Grand Bahama, when Abaco’s Patrick J. Bethel School boys and girls face the winner of the GBSSSA championships.
The second match day is set for Monday, May 22 on New Providence. The boys will play on that day with the winner from BAISS, Lyford Cay International School, taking on the third-place GSSSA team. The GSSSA winner will play the BAISS third-place team, St. Anne’s School. The final match of that day will pit the BAISS second-place team, St. Andrew’s International School, against the GSSSA second-place team.
The third match day is set for Tuesday, May 23 on New Providence. The girls will take to the field on that day. The first match will feature the winner from the BAISS, Queen’s College, going up against the third-place GSSSA team. The GSSSA winner will play the BAISS third-place team, St. Augustine’s College. The final match of that day will pit the BAISS second-place team, Lyford Cay International School, against the GSSSA second-place team.
Match day four, which is the semifinals, is set for Friday, May 26. The finals, which will be on match day five, is set for Saturday, May 27.
The boys will play two 40-minute halves while the girls will play two 35-minute halves.
Lionel Haven, who is no stranger to sport and is the brother of the late Sam Haven, was on hand to speak on behalf of the Haven family.
“This event gives the opportunity for Sam’s legacy to live on, so I’m very pleased,” Haven said. “I know the family is quite pleased about this event and we’ve shown up in great numbers at previous events. We intend to show up in great numbers at this upcoming event. Even if it’s in Freeport, we will make sure that we are present to ensure that we support what the BFA is doing to support his legacy.”
President of GSSSA Varel Davis and convener for soccer in the BAISS Yiorgo Coyle were also in attendance at the press conference. They said they are excited to see the tournament make its return. Both expect one of their member schools to come out as victors.
Sealy said that the excitement from the 2019 competition is still there as persons were looking forward to it after the three-year break. He is urging persons to come out and support their schools and alma mater or just come out and support the youth.