2011 Island Games Golf Team Announced
The Bermuda Golf Team for this year’s Island Games has been announced. The men’s team consists of Captain Camiko Smith, Ryan Benevides, Alex Osborne and Damian Palanyandi with Ryan Roberts as the alternate.
Captain Laura Robinson, Ebonie Burgess, Katrin Burnie and Elizabeth Parsons round out the Ladies team. Team Management consists of Nick Mansell and Scott Roy.
The team will be flying out with the rest of the competitors on June 23rd and returning July 2nd.
A spokesperson said: “The 2011 teams boast Bermuda’s talent, and the BGA are confident the team will successfully defend their titles. The team reflects the Bermuda Golf Association’s commitment to developing golf on the island through all ages. The Bermuda Golf Association would like to wish all participants representing Bermuda at the Island Games the utmost success in the Isle of Wight.”
The 2011 Natwest Island Games are being held in the Isle of Wight from June 25th to July 1st. Over 25 islands will compete in 14 sports including golf, swimming, bowling, track and field, archery, tennis, badminton and more.
In 2009, Bermudian golfers excelled, with both Men’s and Ladies golf team winning gold medals in the team event. Individual honors went to Jarryd Dillas winning gold and Daniel Augustus winning bronze.
Bermuda Golf Association: Developing & Growing Golf?
I wish to preface my following comments by offering congratulations to both the men and women who have been selected to represent Bermuda in golf during the upcoming NatWest Island Games. I wish for all readers to understand that my issue is not with any of the selected players as individuals or as golfers. The Bermuda Golf Association welcomed all interested persons to put their names forward for consideration and by all means any amateur member of the BGA has the right to respond to this call. My contention is with the BGA selection committee, administration and their process or lack thereof for picking the teams.
Quiet simply, the BGA have gone back to habits and trends that the last committee was working diligently to do away with. Regarding the ladies’ team in particular the selections reek of elitism and bias (for lack of a better term). On the topic of elitism, how does the BGA plan to develop the game of women’s golf in Bermuda when they over look players who are committed to golf and regularly support the BGA for players who presently have other leading interests in their lives and have not been playing golf? What message is this sending? Why should those 12 to 20 handicappers continue to support the BGA and its events? How do decisions like these help grow and develop women’s golf? On the topic of bias, it is a known fact that members of the selection committee have vested interests in selected players for the women’s team. It is a known fact that these said individual(s) earnestly swayed the selection committee in favor of “their” player. In such cases, if a selector is unable to be objective, one should remove him/herself from the process. It is a known fact that all of the information collected by the BGA as an organization did not reach the selection committee for deliberation. It is a known fact that members of the selection committee withheld pertinent information on persons who had expressed an interest in representing Bermuda at the island games.
If one were to visit the BGA website, you would find the criteria for overseas selection developed by the previous committee. It would be good if the BGA exercised vision and foresight to enable them to follow the criteria. If a situation arises that prevents them from being able to follow these guidelines, then selectors should still seek objective means to selecting participants and leave personal bias out. The past has shown us, selecting teams based on subjective discretionary principles lead to a despondent golfing community (as far as BGA event participation goes). I thought the BGA was turning away from such practices.
I write this letter not as President of the Bermuda Junior Golf Association, but as a member of the local golf fraternity. As such, I am unable to sit quietly while decisions are being made that in my opinion do not help grow the game of golf.
Yours in golf,
Quinton Sherlock Jr.
Great letter. Typical BGA decision making. Sounds like the board with a lot of large ego’s without a clue. Truth be known, the BGA have always made selections based on favoritism and never appear to be objective. This is one of many reasons why I will never support this Association which includes participating in any of their half baked, unorganized events. The BGA is a joke.