NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Last year, a total of 14 high school student-athletes entered in the Student-Athlete Resources & Support (STARS) Program, were recipients of a combination of athletic, academic, and Ministry of Education awards. The group participated in various school sporting activities and disciplines in New Providence and Grand Bahama throughout the year.
These student-athletes excelled in both the classroom and on the playing fields. In the classroom, there was an average cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.54, and they now serve as mentors of the STARS program.
The STARS program provides Bahamian high school student-athletes with the tools they need to extend their educational and athletic experience beyond high school, to the collegiate level and beyond, while empowering them to become strong leaders in and out of the classroom and on and off the playing field, and helping them successfully integrate into society as responsible citizens.
A number of the recipients are now into their freshmen year in college. All six of the college soccer student-athletes attended the ministry’s first STARS college soccer showcase in February 2019 and were beneficiaries of athletic scholarships as a result.
Over the Christmas holidays, a few of them stopped by the program’s office to share their college experiences.
The initial college STARS recipients are: Devonta Newbold (Benedict College) – men’s track and field; Laurann Brown (Dodge City Community College) – women’s soccer; Mckell Yallop (Arizona Western College) – women’s soccer; Lavano Sands (Central State University) – men’s track and field; Malachi McCoy (Benedict College) – men’s basketball; Kunal Bain (Colby Community College) – men’s track and field; Aniqua Darville (Life University) – women’s track and field; Kirklyn Farrington (University of The Bahamas) – men’s basketball; Tevin Lewis (Mount Allison University) – men’s soccer; Karon Dean (Barton Community Collage) – men’s track and field; Rashawn Hamilton (St. Andrews University) – men’s soccer; Derryn Johnson (Trinity Valley Community College) – men’s basketball; Tyra McKenzie (Arizona Western College) – women’s soccer; and Savannah Rolle (Allen University) – women’s soccer.
The parent body of the program is the Scholarship & Educational Loan Division (SELD), and the mission of the SELD is to ensure that qualified Bahamian students are connected with transformative scholarship opportunities and resources that will enable the pursuit of tertiary level education.
