With Freeport, Grand Bahama coming on stream as a major player in bodybuilding and fitness in the country, that sport's national championships is now being moved to that island. For the first time in the history of the country, the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation's (BBFF) National Championships will be held in the nation's second city. The 39th annual Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) sponsored event is set for Saturday June 21, at the Our Lucaya Resort, in Grand Bahama.
"The main thing is to give them a chance to see what they can do," said federation president Danny Sumner. "They have been calling for this for a while, and now they have it. A lot of the athletes themselves are from Grand Bahama. There was a time when Grand Bahama dominated the nationals, and it was just over the last 10 years, when New Providence took control and reigned supreme. Now, we are seeing a return to prominence for Grand Bahama."
Actually, all four overall national champions from a year ago hail from Grand Bahama. Rob Harris and Tammy Stubbs won the overall titles in male and female bodybuilding respectively, Charnice Bain was the overall winner in fitness, and Dominique Wilkinson prevailed in body fitness. They are expected to be back to defend their titles. Veteran Raymond Tucker and former overall winner Lorraine Lefleur are expected to make the trek to Grand Bahama to compete as well.
Apart from being in Grand Bahama, the nationals will have an added twist this year, as it is being combined with the novice championships and the Northern Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. The novice athletes will still enter as novices, and will still be judged as such, while the northern Bahamas athletes are expected to be an added treat.
"First of all, I want to apologize to the novice athletes who have been training for not being able to stage the novice championships
separately this year. Quite frankly, we didn't have enough athletes entered. Anytime you have less than 10 athletes entered to compete, it doesn't make sense to go ahead with that particular event. One of the problems that we have faced is that the government has cut back on funding as it has done with all of the sporting federations. Hopefully, the ministry can make some adjustment in that regard. It is expensive for us to put these shows on, and it is expensive for the athletes to compete. Over the last two years, we have still been going to the CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Championships, but we had to cut back on the teams. These are just some of the challenges that we are looking at now."
The New Providence athletes who cannot make the trip to Grand Bahama do have something to look forward to this year though. According to the local association president Stephen Robinson, a fitness and physique competition is set for June right here in New Providence. Despite the setbacks this year, federation president Sumner said that they still have plans on the drawing board to expand the sport here in The Bahamas.
"Well, we have to find a way to venture into the high schools," he said. "We had one successful year where we had about 12-15 athletes, but we have to see if we can keep that going on a more consistent basis. It is our objective to sit down and see if we can formalize a plan with the incoming minister. I would like to officially congratulate him on his new post. Fitness and overall health are some of the main goals of the federation. We're looking at getting more people involved, possibly taking it into the Family Islands.
"When you look at most of our senior athletes, they have reached an age where they are almost at retirement. There is just one senior athlete who has been competing consistently over the past 20 years, and that's Raymond Tucker. Hats off to him for his performances over the past 20 years or more. Other than him, most of the senior athletes have reached the age where they don't want to get back in shape or it is difficult to get back in shape. Therefore, our main goal is to bring more young talent into the sport. What better place to start than in the high schools."
Out of the national championships in Grand Bahama, teams will be named for the Antilles and Southern Caribbean Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships, and the CAC Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. The Antilles is set for late August in Trinidad and Tobago, and the 40th CAC Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships is set to be held from September 20-22, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sumner said that it is the plans of the federation to send national teams to both events.

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