The Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association (ABBA) and the basketball fraternity on a whole would like to echo congratulations to former national player Carl ‘Bowlie’ Knight on his honour at the recently held National Independence Ceremony on November 1.
Knight was the lone individual from sports to be honoured amongst the 12 honorees. He is now an Officer of Princely Heritage (OH).
“We definitely want to congratulate Mr. Knight on this achievement. A well-deserved one as well. Even after retiring, he has always given back to the sport and even now you can catch him refereeing, or commentating on matches. We definitely are proud as an association and we wish him and his family well in the future,” President of ABBA, Michael Freeland said.
Knight was arguably one of the best point guards to ever come out of the region. Locally, he dominated with the Skillville basketball team and then later with the Senior Men’s National team, the Bulldogs where he was the captain from the age of 16 until his retirement in the late 90’s. He has played alongside a number of other local greats including: Noel ‘Nyah’ Roberts, Richie Francis, Tekel Gomes and Wayne ‘Doc’ Harris.
He would later become the first-ever Sportsman of the Year in Antigua and Barbuda and still remains the only male basketballer to win that title.
The ABBA Division One Most Assists Award was renamed in his honour some years ago.
After retiring, he didn’t stray far from the sport having applied his trade as a PE Teacher for the Ottos Comprehensive School and the TN Kirnon Primary. He would later transition as a basketball coach and then the School’s Basketball Coordinator. A role he still remains in at present.
When he isn’t assisting the youth in the school league, Knight can be found at the local division and business league games officiating or commentating.
