Two new championships are expected to be added to the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation's (BBFF) calendar of events for next year. President Danny Sumner has already started putting 'pen to paper' requesting the participation of the various armed forces in the country. He wants to implement an Armed Forces Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships, as well as a high school championships featuring athletes from New Providence and Grand Bahama. "We are still feeling good about the our performance at the CAC that took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

That was a high point for us and we want to build on that," said Sumner. "The first thing we will be looking at for next year is hosting an Armed Forces Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. "It is the federation's belief that the Armed Forced Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships for persons from the Police, Prison and Defense Forces to keep in shape. We want to encourage them to continue on with a healthy lifestyle and train.

Their physical upkeep is very important. "We know that they all go through physical training before joining these organizations, so this is our way for them to continue on with this training. Basically, we feel as though this will promote a friendly comradery among all three of these departments. This is something that I will like to put to the minister who is responsible for these respective departments." According to Sumner, he has already approached Evan Wisdom about hosting a high school championships. Wisdom is the officer in charge of after-school sports in the ministry.

Sumner said: "The verbal discussion that I had with Evan Wisdom was very positive. We are going to look at that and see how it will come off the ground. The first thing we will need to do is get a full commitment from all the schools. If we can get about 12-13 students interested in the sport, then the championships will be staged. "High school plays an important part of nation building. The target students will be persons in grades 11 and 12.

Those kids at that age will becoming out of school soon and can continue training, on a daily basis. We want to target them and make sure that they maintain their fitness. A healthy nation is important. So we are going to start it off with those two programs. We are looking to go forward with these programs, but we haven't identify a month as yet." The federation will be sending a team to the Arnold Classic, set to take place in Las Vegas next March. Sumner said the team will be officially announced in the upcoming week.

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