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News > $100,000 Award for COB's Student Athlete Programme
$100,000 Award for COB's Student Athlete Programme (Photo: Bahamas Information Services) Sixty-four student athletes at The College of The Bahamas are benefitting from a subsequent $100,000 grant contribution from the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture to fund the National Hall of Fame Student Athlete Award Programme. The grant funding from the ministry was its second contribution in support of The College's programme to recruit and retain exceptional student athletes. The ultimate aim is for these athletes to pursue their post-secondary education at The College while competing at the intercollegiate level. The programme also serves as a feeder system for national sporting teams. The College of The Bahamas has eight varsity teams - men's and women's basketball, volleyball, soccer and track & field. All of them compete against colleges and universities in Florida and many play teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA] Sun Conference. College President Janyne Hodder expressed gratitude for the ministry's generous contribution in support of the programme. "We are extremely pleased that the ministry is providing another $100,000 in grant funding to the National Hall of Fame Student Athlete Award in honour of the inductees into the National Sports Hall of Fame. This Fall, the National Hall of Fame Student Athlete Award is benefitting 64 student athletes by providing for tuition or books," she said. "This represents more than half of our total complement of student athletes at The College. This semester, 22 of the student athlete grant recipients are freshmen whose exceptional achievements have set them apart as leaders in sporting events like soccer, volleyball, basketball and track & field." Last Spring in an initial contribution, the ministry provided $45,000 in grant funding for student athletes at The College in a profound demonstration of support for the student athlete programme. Some of the athletes who were recruited by The College had been keenly pursued by persistent recruiters from colleges and universities abroad. Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon. Charles Maynard said he was pleased to help write another chapter in the progressive relations between his ministry and The College of The Bahamas. "This occasion permits me to confirm the views of my ministry that further national sports development will be closely aligned to a robust athletic programme at The College of The Bahamas," he said. "This view is common among all national core sports federations who collectively view a vibrant COB athletic department as vital to fielding their strongest national teams." According to the Director of Athletics at The College of The Bahamas, Kimberley Rolle, the kind of financial support provided by the ministry is critical to the development of the institution's athletic progamme. "This is particularly so because we are in competition with colleges and universities in the United States and Canada for Bahamian talent and one of the more attractive features is the financial aid that is offered," she explained. "So the fact that we now have financial aid to attract and retain local talent is very critical to the growth and development of the athletics programme. Additionally, it provides The Bahamas with an opportunity to keep some of its better athletes at home and they are available to compete on national teams and in national programmes." The ministry had committed to making another $135,000 commitment in support of the National Hall of Fame Student Athlete Award Programme for the 2010-2011 academic year and a further $190,000 grant award for the following year before undertaking a review of the programme.
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| The College of The Bahamas :: Oakes Field :: P.O. Box N-4912 :: Nassau, The Bahamas :: Tel (242) 302.4300 :: Email cob@cob.edu.bs |