Jeff Rodgers is a Bahamian sports enthusiastic well known for building the Annual Jeff Rodgers Basketball Camp for the past 33 years. The camp has taught the fundamentals of basketball to over 11,000 boys and girls in the community, extending to Turks & Caicos, Jamaica and The Cayman Islands.

Jeff was a sports coach at Bahamas Academy for three years and then transitioned to Sales and Marketing at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas where he spent 11 years. Continuing in sports, his area of passion, Jeff was a Senior Manager in Sports Tourism with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism for eight (8) years.

Four of those years were spent between Washington D.C. and New York in the United States of America. He brought in more than 90% of the international sporting events to The Bahamas during this time which resulted in a high economic impact for the country. Highlights include the NCAA Basketball Tournament, 2 PGA Golf Tournaments, the LPGA Tournament and opening the door for the Tiger Woods Golf Tournament at Albany.

The NBA Union Meetings held in The Bahamas for the past two years were orchestrated by Jeff as well as The Bahamas’ current relationship with the Washington NFL Team, formerly the Redskins, who facilitated two major events in Nassau.

While in the US with the Bahamas Sports Tourism, I was able to bring the following events to Nassau:

• NBA Players Association annual All-Star Weekend meetings
• Bahamas Gospel Fest, featuring gospel choirs from the Washington DC area for two years
• Doug Williams Celebrity Weekend with the Washington Redskins for two years
• Houston Rockets NBA Training camp for two years
• World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) for the past two years
• Other events featuring the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins, and the New York Jets

In 2010, I met the President of bdG Sports, Brooks Downing, who had pitched an idea for a significant NCAA basketball tournament at Atlantis the year before. Through his company, we developed an international golf brand for the Bahamas. It began when bdG brokered the opportunity for the LPGA to play at Atlantis from 2013-2018.

 

In 2017, to showcase the “true Bahamas,” I again turned to bdG, who launched two Korn Ferry Tour events in Exuma and Abaco. Both of those events were just renewed by Tourism for three more years.

 

Also, while working with Tourism, I played an instrumental role in bringing Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge to Albany.

 

In 2021, I will celebrate 33 years of providing an annual, affordable, Christian-based basketball camp for boys and girls here in Nassau and our youth in various family islands and other Caribbean Islands, such as Jamaica, Cayman & Turks and Caicos. Along with the daily tutelage in the game, we have provided lessons in discipline, health and wellness, and responsibility. And each year, we celebrate the close of camp with various NBA players, such as Mychal and Klay Thompson, Byron Scott, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, Mugsy Bogues, Eric Gordon, and others. More than 300 young people participate annually.

• Visit the Jeff Rodgers' Basketball Camp's website