Go Lean Commentary
The news story in the following news article synchronizes with the book Go Lean … Caribbean in that it depicts the realities of how sports can impact the economics of a community.
Go Lean serves as a roadmap for the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to administer and optimize the economic/security/ governing engines of the region’s 30 member-states. At the outset, the roadmap features these statements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 & 14):
xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.
xxxi. Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism – modeling the Olympics.
The actual news article was posted as follows:
By RENALDO DORSETT, Sports Reporter (rdorsett@tribunemedia.net)
You can find Bahamians playing basketball on just about every continent but it’s rare to find former high school teammates reunited on the same roster at the professional level.In the Libyan D1 basketball league, Scottie Farrington and Tehran Cox are two of the top players with the Al Madina Tripoli club.
They are two of three Bahamians competing in the Libya-D1 league along with Torrington Cox who plays with Al Ahly Benghazi.
Farrington, a 6’8” forward and University of Louisiana Lafayette graduate, is currently averaging 21 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks per game while Cox, formerly of High Point University, is averaging a team high 24 points, six assists and four rebounds per game.
The duo first teamed up in 2002 to win the Government Secondary School Sports Association junior boys basketball championship at SC McPherson Junior High under coach Ulric Sands and Chevy Simmons.
They also represented The Bahamas together in 2005 at the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Trinidad and Tobago where they helped lead the Bahamas to an upset over regional powerhouse Puerto Rico en route to the gold medal.
Both players are in their first season with Madina. However, Farrington has previously played in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Thailand, while Cox, in his first professional stint, began the year in Kuwait.
Farrington said having a familiar face in the starting lineup far away from home has been a benefit both on and off the court, particularly since the country continues to rebuild following the 2011 revolution which ousted Muammar al-Gaddafi.
“It’s an experience of a lifetime. Especially being here with these people who are trying to rebuild
their country after the revolution. Playing here with Tehran and knowing makes this a more comfortable situation,” he said. “We talked about it because we have the same agent but we didn’t think it was going to actually happen.”
The club is currently ranked fifth in the East Group at 3-5, however their individual play has already garnered opportunities for the next possible step in their professional careers.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the best fit but the competition here is better than I expected. A few guys here have played or attended training camp for NBA teams so that means a lot to compete against these guys,” Farrington said. “This is just our first season here with Madina. We signed here in November and after our performance here we have already been contacted by clubs in Spain and in Serbia for next season, but we will save that for later and focus on finishing off this season strong.”
Farrington played under Godfrey McQuay with the St Anne’s Blue Waves before completing his high school career at the Christian Life Centre in Houston, Texas.
He spent his freshman year at Rogers State and his sophomore year at Odessa before he played at the NCAA D1 level with Louisiana Lafayette.
In his senior year at Louisiana, he also teammed with Bahamians Kentwan Smith and Kadeem Coleby.
Cox, a 6’1” point guard, was dominant in the backcourt for the CI Gibson Rattlers before he finished his high school career at Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
He spent two seasons at Arkansas Fort-Smith before he transferred to High Point for his junior and senior seasons.
Cox has helped Al Ahly Benghazi to second place in the West Group at 5-2, on a roster that also features former Boston Celtics draft pick Orien Greene.
Torrington Cox, a 6’7” forward, is in his seventh professional season and is currently averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks per game. He previously played in Mexico, Chile, Saudi Arabia , Egypt, Kuwait, Dubai and was also selected by the Utah Flash in the 2008 NBA D-League draft.
Source: The Tribune – Bahamas Daily Newspaper Online Site (Retrieved 03/04/2014) –http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/mar/03/bahamians-make-presence-felt-in-libyan-league/
The Go Lean roadmap posits that genius qualifiers are found through out Caribbean society, and that this may be identified with excellence in sports. With the proper market organizations, sporting events can be lucrative for a community and participants. But that market organization does not currently exist in the Caribbean. An objective of this roadmap is to develop the organized markets.
This objective aligns with the CU’s prime directives to elevate the region’s economy, create future prospects for the Caribbean’s youth and invite the far-flung Diaspora to return to their island homelands. Consider the experiences of the 3 Bahamian athletes in Libya (a country in the North Africa’s Sahara desert region), would they rather be in Libya or the Bahamas, or any other Caribbean destination? The tagline in the Go Lean book is that the Caribbean is the world’s greatest address; there are not too many claims of Libya competing for that title.
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to forge permanent change by implementing the Five Year roadmap advocated in Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this plan as it relates to sports is the optimization of local opportunities at all levels, youth all-stars & regional tournaments, an intercollegiate eco-system and professional leagues. The CU will facilitate the applicable venues (stadia, arenas, fields, temporary structures and broadcast/streaming capabilities). The roadmap calls for the creation of 2,000 new direct jobs within the region.
Now finally, with the Go Lean implementations, the Caribbean can become a better place for all citizens to live, work and play.