August 5th, 1964 – Carl Lyndon ‘Bowlie’ Knight was born to KC Joe Knight (Villa) and Eulalie Shephard-Knight (Green Bay). He was raised between the Green Bay and Villa communities and attended the Villa Primary School.
It was customary to see residents of Point and Villa on the Villa Primary School and Blackburn basketball courts and Knight was no exception to this norm as he would often be seen engaging in game after game of pick-up basketball from early in the morning until sunset. His dedication towards the honing of his skills helped in propelling him towards becoming an accomplished basketballer.
His prowess earned him the rank of captain of the outstanding Skillville 100 basketball team which was a product of the Point and Villa community. Along with the team, Knight had the opportunity to participate in local games as well as tour the Caribbean for Caribbean Club Championships and Invitationals and proved to be a formidable opponent. He regarded his involvement in this team as a good training ground as there were skilled individuals whom he could look to to pattern his game off of.
His commitment towards developing as a player allowed for him to be drafted as a national player and, at age 15, he became one of the youngest players to be included in the Senior Men’s basketball team, the Bulldogs. From this point on, Knight continued to soar in basketball. A few years after joining the Bulldogs, he was appointed captain and proudly represented the twin island in a number of countries to include Grenada, Belize, Guyana and Dominica.
In 1992, Knight made history as the country’s first Sportsman of the Year during the National Sports Awards. Shortly after, in 1993, in the presence of family, friends and the nation, he retired his number 7. The Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association(ABBA) continues to honour this icon in local basketball history through the renaming of the Division One Most Assists Award to Carl ‘Bowlie’ Knight Most Assists Award.
Outside of his sporting accomplishments. Knight is a committed man of faith and currently serves as an Elder in the Villa Seventh Day Adventist Church; a medium he also uses to mentor young persons. He is also a family oriented man, devoted to his wife Oleno, who shares his passion for sports being a netball and basketball coach herself, and their four daughters and four grandchildren.
Knight continues to contribute towards the continued development of basketball in Antigua and Barbuda in his capacity as School’s Basketball Coordinator which allows him to work with fellow villagers and other basketball lovers to ensure that the sport continues to have a solid foundation. In this capacity, one important role he carries out is maintenance of the link between education and sports through the Pitbulls program working to source scholarships for talented basketball athletes. Prior to serving in this post, he served as a basketball coach attached to the sports department for a number of years and continues to function as a referee for ABBA’s basketball program.