Four local coaches have been identified by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) executive body and will have the task of putting together the strongest relay squads to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games.
Henry Rolle will head the coaching staff which includes Dianne Woodside, David Charlton and Tyronne Burrows. Rolle is the assistant head coach at Auburn University. He will be responsible for scheduling meets, organizing training sessions and ensuring that selected athletes are in place to compete. Rolle will lead the charge in the USA and will release the meets that the teams will compete in shortly. The teams are expected to compete in the USA, Europe, regional and local arenas. Woodside, the first female coach to be named as a relay coordinator Charlton and Burrows work with athletes on the local side.
"The main focus is to get as many teams was we can to London where we will be in a better situation to win medals," said Rolle. "Obviously everyone knows about the Golden Girls and the men's 4x400 meters (m). We will also try to qualify the men's 4x100m and the women's 4x400m. We have to start at some point and as time progress individuals will be called upon to try and qualify these teams. Our first initial meet will probably the Penn Relays. We will try and secure persons for all four teams. That will be the first opportunity to see where our checks and balances lie. We will work on the kinks and see where we will need to go to get stronger as a relay team."
President of the BAAA Mike Sands is confident that the coaches selected will form a perfect nucleus. He also noted that the list of athletes, selected to for relay duties will be named at a later.
Sands: "We are pleased to announce that the executives body have identified and appointed relay coordinators. During this process we have also identified a number of our top athletes that will perform that duty and to begin the process. We want to ensure that the athletes have the best opportunity possible to qualify and that we get into the top 16 and maintain that position prior to the deadlines. We will be talking about relay camps which will be spearheaded by coach Rolle and the other coaches. We will be looking at meets where the athletes reside to ensure that the best persons are available to execute the relays with precision."
So far, the men's 4x400m team is the only squad that has qualified for the summer games that will be held in London July 27-August 12.

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