FREEPORT,
Grand Bahama -- Minister for Grand Bahama, Hon. Ginger Moxey was among
many who turned out at the GB Sports complex on Saturday afternoon
(December 4, 2021) to pay tribute to former Bahamian track and field
legend and former Principal, Anita Doherty.
“I had to be here to be
able to pay honour to the amazing and incomparable Anita Doherty who, by
the way, was my Physical Education teacher and Principal at the former
Freeport Anglican High School,” Minister Moxey said, during a short
opening ceremony for the Anita Doherty Odd Distance Track and Field Meet
at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex.
The Sporting event was the first
official track and field event for Grand Bahama since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Minister Moxey said that it was important
for the track meet to take place in Grand Bahama, to get the kids and
young people out and about, doing positive activities.
“After being
locked down because of the pandemic, it is good to see these kids out
here expending that energy and being able to compete and have fun,” said
Minister Moxey. “While we are still under certain health protocols
which we have to follow, to have the kids out here and to be able to run
and compete here is a good thing.
“But meets like these are
important for Grand Bahama because we still have the goal of becoming
one of the major sporting capitals in the country. Our Minister of
Youth, Sports and Culture has stated how important it is not only for
the country as a whole to become active in sports again, but he
specifically saw the potential of Grand Bahama and has committed himself
to helping Grand Bahama become the sporting giant it can be.”
Minister
Moxey noted that there could be no better way to reintroduce sporting
events back to Grand Bahama, while honouring a woman who herself has
been a beacon of sporting greatness for The Bahamas during her heyday as
an athlete.
“After I had received a scholarship to attend Freeport
Anglican High School, I felt a little bit lost, but Mrs. Doherty took me
under her wings and it helped me to excel,” added Minister Moxey. “I am
privileged to be a part of all Mrs. Doherty has done for the young
people of Grand Bahama, for the community and [for being] instrumental
in business development for the island.
“So, you have done more than
just represented this country internationally in sports, but you have
been a beacon within the Grand Bahama community.”
Also on hand to pay
tribute to Mrs. Doherty was Minister of Social Services and Urban
Development, the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe, who said he basically grew up in
Mrs. Doherty’s home during weekends when he returned to Freeport.
Wilchcombe
says Mrs. Doherty has always been a strict disciplinarian, who made
sure that kids did what was right, giving priority to school work before
anything else. “Anita Doherty is one of the great Bahamians of our
time,” said Minister Wilchcombe. “She was perhaps one of the greatest
female athletes in The Bahamas. I have no doubt that when we celebrate
fifty years of Independence in a few years, that Anita Doherty will be
one of those people who are honoured during those critical
celebrations.”
Saturday’s Anita Doherty Odd Distance Track Meet was
sponsored and authorized by the Bahamas Amateur Athletics Association.
President, Dramecko Archer was also in Grand Bahama for Saturday’s
event.
