The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TEAM manager Doris Wood said the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations completed its selection for the management and coaching staff and is now poised and ready to compete at the BTC Carifta 2013 in the new Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium this weekend.

On the heels of naming a 70-member team for the games following the completion of the two-day final trials, the BAAA announced the staff that will assist the athletes in the top regional track and field competition as the Bahamas prepares to compete against 25 visiting countries.

The remainder of the team was selected just before a motorcade and pep rally was held for the team on Saturday. The team then participated in a church service at Bahamas Faith Ministries on Sunday.

Heading the Bahamian delegation will be Mike Sands, the president of the BAAA. While Wood serves as the team manager, she will be assisted by Margo Major, Mildred Adderley and Elva Davis from Grand Bahama. The chaperone is Anita Doherty, Shekeita Henfield and Bradley Wood.

Fritz Grant will be the coaching staff’s consultant and Greg Cash is the head coach. He will be assisted by James Rolle for high jump, Anthony Williams, Grand Bahamian Sandra Laing and Audrick Lightbourne for sprints, Lavern Eve and Corrington Maycock, Bernard Rolle, Frederick Bastian and Antonio Saunders as the remaining coaches.

Dr Cypriann Strachan will be the team doctor. Rhonda Hanna is the physio-therapist, Laura Hutchinson for doping.

“We have some other coaches in Ronald Cartwright, Peter Pratt, Bradley Cooper and Keith Parker,” who will be our support coaches in the background,” Wood said. “They will be able to work with the coaches in the warm-up areas, but won’t be allowed to go through the gate.”

Wood said now that they have completed the management and coaching staff, they are now eager to get started with the games.

“The team is looking really good. We just need the Bahamas to pray for us and we will do what we have to do to come out on top, or at least try our best to get there,” she said.

During the rally for the team, Wood was asked the status of quartermiler Stephen Newbold, who has been released on a $1,000 bond after being arrested in connection with a firearm incident last week.

“We understand that Stephen is on his way home,” Wood said. “We are just waiting for him to arrive.”

BAAA public relations officer Tonique Williams said the pep rally was a good way for the team to bond together.

“If they didn’t feel it before, I know they now feel the enthusiasm of the Bahamian people supporting them,” she said. “I think it was a good event to take place to let people know that Carifta is at the end of the week and it just adds to the excitement that is already in the air.

“I think everybody knows about Carifta at this point in time. So that was good from the administrative side of it from the BAAA.”

Williams, a former Carifta athlete who went on to win the gold at both the IAAF World Championship and the Olympic Games, represented Bank of the Bahamas which made a presentation of a gift card to all members of the track team.

“It’s about embracing the youth and encouraging them in the positive activities that they are involved in,” she said. “We just want to be able to present them with the Visa gift5 card, which is just a small gift to show our appreciation to our youth as we go into our 40th anniversary as a country, knowing that the youth is our future.”

While the members of the Carifta swim team participated in the motorcade, they didn’t stay behind for the rally.

But Williams said they have spoken to a representative from the team and will be making a presentation of their Visa gift card to each of them before they leave for Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday.

“This is about the Bahamian Carifta team and not just track and field,” Williams said. “Bank of the Bahamas has a long tradition of supporting athletes, such as me and Chris Brown. But we also have a long history of supporting other sports and so many other youth organisations.”

Saturday’s rally featured a number of gospel artists, including Julien and the Caribbean Slide dancers.

BAAA first vice president Iram Lewis, speaking on behalf of president Mike Sands, said the athletes are the future stars of the Bahamas and they are looking forward to showcasing them during the games this weekend.

“We are indeed very proud of each and every one of you for making this year’s Carifta team,” Lewis said. “Some of you are veterans, having made the team three or four times, and some of you are making the team for the first time. But we want you to know that when you go out there on the track, they (Jamaicans) are coming and they are coming for your things. When they come out there, we are going to tell them ‘not in our house, not today. You ain’t taking our things, so just leave that way.”

Lewis, who went on to represent the Bahamas at the Olympics as a member of the men’s 4 x 100 relay team, encouraged the parents to bring their entire family and invite their friends to come out and cheer on Team Bahamas because they know that the Jamaicans will be out in full force.