BAAA names 53-member CARIFTA team

Mon, Mar 23rd 2015, 01:06 AM

Now that the wait is over and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) has announced the list of competitors participating at the 2015 CARIFTA Track and Field Championships, athletes and coaches can begin preparation for the top junior track and field meet in the Caribbean region. After slipping all the way to seventh place overall at last year's CARIFTA Games in Fort-de-France, Martinique, BAAA President Mike Sands and his team made the decision to do things a little differently this year ahead of the 2015 version of the championships, set for the Easter holiday weekend, April 4-6, in Sugar City, St. Kitts and Nevis.

This year, the BAAA decided to go with a "leaner" team, made up of only athletes who qualified in individual events. Sands said that although the 53-member team traveling in April may be a little slimmer than some around the association would like it to be, he thinks this roster will be much more effective than those in the past, particularly last year's group. The team was announced yesterday.

"We feel that this team is a very strong team," said Sands. "We indicated earlier that we were going for individual events. We would go with qualifiers, and we did just that. Every athlete that has been named to this team, originally, as we are stating now, are all those who qualified in their individual events.

"Consideration was given after much debate by the selection committee, then the executive management team and the membership at large were a part of the debate on that, and we ended up as a result, identifying persons to ensure that the relay teams were strengthened. The Bahamas is known for its relays, with less than 40 days to go to the IAAF World Relays, we want to make sure we maintain our tradition and make sure the future of track and field is bright in the country."

John Ingraham will head the team's coaching staff; Doris Rolle-Ramsey will serve as the team manager; Dr. Cindy Dorsette will head the medical staff, and Dion Britain and Cecile Campbell are the chaperones. Other members of the management team include Sharon Gardiner, Wendell Collie, Bernard Rolle, Don Johnson, Sandra Laing, Torrington Maycock and James Rolle. Dave Charlton will serve as the consultant to the national team.

Sands said that his expectations are high for this group, and that he feels he has the right leaders in place to keep everyone focused on the task at hand.

"We always look to do the best we can," he said. "Obviously CARIFTA is really based on medal count, and we've slipped a few notches. I think last year was a wake-up call for us in a number of areas and I think the coaches, athletes and executives heeded the call where we needed to focus on getting our athletes qualified. While we may not have as many qualifiers in all of the events that we would like, we are satisfied that what we have here is the best we have to offer under the circumstances. I'm satisfied that this team will be very competitive as we go into CARIFTA."

Sands also added that he feels our strongest events will be our field events, which hasn't been the case for some time now.

"I'm very pleased with the performance of the field events," he said. "There were years that went by that our field events used to be our strongest events, and we fell off on that in some instances. I told the coaches to find a way to bring it up, and I must say that Coach Cartwright, Coach Maycock and Don Johnson, who are the primary coaches, have undertaken a plan that yielded itself this time around."

Today, the BAAA plans to hold a team meeting at 5 p.m. after team practice, where the team will be introduced to management and given other instructions related to their participation at the championships. They will also state when the practice sessions will be held.

For those interested in traveling with the team, the BAAA has packages available for family and friends. The airfare starts at $799 on the charter, and with accommodations, it ranges to about $1,500.

Last year, Team Bahamas finished with just one gold medal that came from the under-18 boys 4x100 meters (m). The relay team of Kinard Rolle, Tyler Bowe, Keanu Pennerman and Javan Martin captured that elusive gold medal, which was added to eight silver and 10 bronze for a total of 19 medals.

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