Hi and welcome to our website. This is the home of the New Providence Basketball Association (N.P.B.A.). The objectives of the Association are:
a) To govern, encourage and sponsor basketball games and series throughout the Island of New Providence, according to the laws said down by the BAHAMAS BASKETBALL FEDERATION (BBF) and FEDERAL INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (FIBA).
b) To secure and maintain affiliation to and recognition by all proper national athletic and sporting governing bodies.
c) To deal with any abuse and appeal by clubs and their members under its proper jurisdiction.
d) To promote and nurture good personal traits and habits in players through clean competition.
The sport of basketball was introduced to the large mass of the Bahamas population in 1934, by the late Brother Christopher Foster, OSB, a Roman Catholic religious of Trinidadian birth. At the time Brother Christopher was stationed at the Priory at St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral on West Hill Street, as we know it today.
The year 1936 was to become of significance because in that same year, Fr. Marcian Peters, OSB, a newly ordained Benedictine monk, was called to the church in the Bahamas. Fr. Marcian first assisted with officiating to help Brother Christopher who was succeeded by Fr. Fredrick Frey OSB, the first prior and Head Master of St. Augustine's Monastery and College.
Assisted by laymen, such as Winston "Tappy" Davis, Erven "eyes" Adderley and others in the Holy Name Society of St. Francis Cathedral, Father Marcian nurtured the game, such that by the time it was called Our Lady's of the Holy Souls Parish, Devaux Street, the game had grown to include a men's and women's league. Winston Davis succeeded Fr. Marcian in the 1950's.
Basketball moved to the other Islands in a formal way when the Grand Bahama Association became the next member association of the New Providence based national Federation. The Bahamas Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) then Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) won international recognition from FIBA, the International Basketball Federation in 1962 under the Presidency of Mr. Davis.
Currently there are branches of the BBF in Grand Bahama, Andros, Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma, Cat Island, Bimini and Inagua. So wide a diffusion of the sport is rightly attributed to Mr. Vince Ferguson, who served as the President of the national body from 1966 to 1983, a seventeen (17) year period which saw the development of the sport in international standards of excellence. He co-ordinated and led basketball unofficially from 1961 to 1965, then led the Officials (referee) body from October 1966 to September 1983.
In the college basketball ranks, Bahamians can only be in awe of the tremendous accomplishments of players like Locksley Collie and Dexter Cambridge, who played for the Texas Long Horns, and Rick Fox who lead the University of North Carolina Tarheels. Sterling Quant who was elected to Central State University was our first product of the professional basketball standard. He was drafted to the Dallas Chapporels of the A.B.A. but decided to return home where he assisted the local game.
Dexter Cambridge, Rick Fox (you can see him in action below) and Ian Lockhart have joined Bahamian Mychal Thompson of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA ranks. Dexter played with the Dallas Mavericks, Rick played with Boston Celtics and currently plays with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ian Lockhart played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers and joined the Phoenix Suns at the start of the 1990 - 1991 season.
High school basketball continues to gain in prominence with the Fr. Marcian Peters, Grand Bahama Catholic High and A.F. Adderley Hugh Campbell Tournament. Since the inaugural Bahamas Games in 1989, the classic has been won by three teams from Grand Bahama.
The Tabernacle Baptist Falcons and coach Norris Bain (the junior boys national basketball coach) proved that they are indeed the best senior boys basketball team in the Bahamas.
The Falcons took the prestigious senior boys A.F. Adderley Hugh Campbell title back to Grand Bahama - the second most developed island in the archipelago - for the ninth time in ten years. Tabernacle also won their third title in four years, avenging last year's defeat to the C.R. Walker Knights, who snapped their bid to become only the second team to three-peat.
The only other team to win the title for three consecutive years was the Hawksbill High Hawks, who were then coached by Jimmy Clarke, the winningest coach in the tournament.
Clarke started out as an assistant coach of the host A.F. Adderley Fighting Tigers, the only New Providence team to capture two consecutive crowns behind Dexter Cambridge (formerly with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA) and Locksley Collie, both currently playing professionally in Europe.
After a stint in Grand Bahama with the Hawks, Clarke was back in New Providence with C.R. Walker, leading them to the title a year ago. This year Clarke's Knight's were eliminated in the semi-finals by his former Fighting Tigers.
In regaining the title from the Knights, the Falcons knocked off the Fighting Tigers 58-46 in a game that they controlled from the second quarter.
Tabernacle earned their berth into the finals by knocking off island rivals Sir Jack Hayward Wildcats in the semi-finals. The Wildcats left the tournament with some glory when they eliminated the St. Anne's Bluewaves.
The Bluewaves came into the week-long tournaments as the favourites after going through their entire season undefeated on their way to repeating as the private schools champions. They only lost one game prior to the tournament when they played in the finals of the HOYTES Yuletide basketball classic in December. Their defeat came at the hands of the visiting Northwest Baptist College from Florida.
Senior forward Tyrone Gardiner was named the tournament's most valuable player. St. Anne's guard Horatio "Yellow" Poitier won both the assists and steals titles; Francis Farrington of St. Andrews College has the most points; Jai Saunders of Eight Mile Rock (Grand Bahama) got the rebound title and Anwar Ferguson of L.N. Coakley (Exuma) the blocks.
1997 - 98 T-Bird Flyers
1996 - 97 T-Bird Flyers
1995 - 96 Paradise Fisheries Sharks
1994 - 95 Paradise Fisheries Sharks
1993 - 94 Paradise Fisheries Sharks
1992 - 93 Milo Collegians
1991 - 92 Y - Care Destroyers
1990 - 91 Beck's Cougars
1989 - 90 Heasties Collegians
1988 - 89 K.C. Pistons
1987 - 88 Kalik Explorers
Commonwealth Bank Giants
Atlantic Medical Pacers
Coke Explorers
Global Tile Crime Stoppers
A1 Collegians
V8 Juice Cleaners
Burger King Angels
Windshield House Giants
Price Busters Warriors
Giants 3
J.C. Sporting Giants
03/04/00.....Sat.........7:15......Giants 3......Windshield
03/04/00.....Sat.........8:45......Explorers......Police
03/06/00.....Mon.........7:15......Warriors........Giants 3
03/06/00.....Mon.........8:45......Pacers...........Giants
03/08/00.....Wed.........7:15......Angels...........J.C. Giants
03/08/00.....Wed.........8:45......Cleaners........Pacers
03/10/00.....Fri.........7:15......Windshield.....Warriors
03/10/00.....Fri.........8:45......Police...........Collegians
03/11/00.....Sat.........7:15......J.C.Giants.....Angels
03/11/00.....Sat...........8:45......Giants..........Explorers
03/13/00.....Mon.........7:15......Warriors........J.C. Giants
03/13/00.....Mon.........8:45......Pacers............Police
03/15/00.....Wed.........7:15......Windshield.....Giants 3
03/15/00.....Wed.........8:45......Explorers......Collegians
03/17/00.....Fri.........7:15......Giants 3.......Warriors
03/17/00.....Fri.........8:45......Giants.........Pacers
03/18/00.....Sat.........7:15......LADIES ALL-STAR GAME
03/18/00.....Sat.........8:45......MENS ALL-STAR GAME
03/20/00.....Mon.........7:15......Windshield.....J.C. Giants
03/20/00.....Mon.........8:45......Police..........Cleaners
03/22/00.....Wed.........7:15......Windshield.....Angels
03/22/00.....Wed.........8:45......Cleaners........Giants
WINS | LOSSES | GAMES PLAYED | |
---|---|---|---|
Commonwealth Bank Giants | 10 | 0 | 10 | Atlantic Medical Pacers | 6 | 4 | 10 | Coke Explorers | 5 | 5 | 10 | Global Tile | 5 | 6 | 11 | A1 Collegians | 4 | 6 | 10 | V8 Juice Cleaners | 1 | 10 | 11 |
WINS | LOSSES | GAMES PLAYED | |
---|---|---|---|
Burger King Angels | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Windsheild House Giants | 2 | 1 | 3 | Price Bustors Warriors | 1 | 3 | 4 | Giants 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | J.C. Sporting Giants | 0 | 3 | 3 |
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Basketball Kingdom - Ocala Florida
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Hi there, and here I'm doing what I love best and hope you have enjoyed my page.....
© 1998 Contact me at rdemeritte@yahoo.com
Ricardo Pierre’s life has been a roller-coaster ride of opportunities. Some he has taken and some have simply slipped through his hands, and even his hands have not always been his friend. But that is not going to stop the 26-year-old from pursuing his dream of playing professional basketball. Ricardo got started playing basketball early...around the same time that the roller coaster ride started. He started playing at DW Davis as a Pitbull under the great basketball coach Reuben Mounts. He was part of the team that was going to be a contender in the annual Hugh Campbell tournament. But then mishaps started.
MISHAPS STARTED EARLY
He got transferred to CI Gibson and put on the blue shirts of a Rattler. But what bothered him the most is that the year that his team made it to the Hugh Campbell final he had to take out his old team—full of friends — and his old coach to get there. “That was really weird for me,” he says, “here I was playing against guys that I respected.” But the tenacity paid off. He was named to the Hugh Campbell tournament first team and was the Hugh Campbell MVP.
COLLEGE YEARS
Ricardo then took a year off from school and tried to get into high school in the US hoping to get a college scholarship. But that never saw the light of day. Another setback. Sort of. He went to a camp in the US and got a few offers to school. He even got an offer from Pacific University, the same school that the NBA’s number one draft pick Michael Olowokandi attended. “But I wanted to hold out for a better offer,” he says, “but when there weren’t any better than that Pacific said my spot on the team had already been filled.” But that didn’t stop him from playing ball, even if it wasn’t where he wanted to be. Ricardo didn’t start out as the player averaging 24 points a game last season in the New Providence Basketball Association & 26 points a game so far this season; and he didn’t start out as the three-tiem national team player. He had to work hard to get where he is. “I would have to stay behind and work hours on my jumper and work on my passing and work on being a better player,” he says. “Not everyone would do that. There were guys that would hang around for a few minutes and some that would stay behind a couple of days. But I stayed behind almost every day because I wanted to be the best player.” And that’s what helped him to be named the best offensive in 1994-95 for the Georgia Athletic Conference and the All-Conference first team. But then mishaps struck again.
EVEN HIS HANDS WERE TURNED AGAINST HIM
Trying to be named to the All-American team was what Ricardo wanted. But in practice—not even a game—he got the fingers of his shooting hand caught in a team-mates’ jersey and seriously pulled it. That ended his chances of making the team. But it didn’t stop him from getting a head start in his education. Ricardo got an Associates Degree in Business Administration and was working on his Bachelors before the mishap. But he doesn’t want to get rid of his dream that easy. Pierre is trying to get a job but some stupid incident has put a big dent in that.
STILL STANDING
He was said to have been arrested for cursing a police officer. “But they took me to the station and I was sitting around and they didn’t put me in a cell or anything,” he says. That was the start of a weird series of events that would make him not eligible for a supervisory position at a major hotel. But he still is trying to secure a higher-paying job so that he just doesn’t get by “I am not a person who is going to ask anybody for anything...I want to get everything for myself.”
PARK PLAY?
And playing on the park is not going to help him get anywhere, he says. “Out here there are no refs, no fans, and no pressure,” he says, “I want to play so that people can watch me and you can report that I scored 30 points and everyone knows what I am doing. Out here there is none of that.” But if he can get the better job he will be able to travel a little more and get some more exposure and maybe land that big break. “Hopefully I will be able to pay the rent & take care of the other bill & then I can show everyone what Ricardo Pierre is about.” Everyone knows what Ricardo is about. He’s about working hard to achieve his goals. He is about overcoming obstacles. He is about being the best person that he can be. Ricardo is what every good player is about. That’s because he is a great player. A great player that has been on a roller coaster ride that will soon shoot up and stay up.