The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER the completion of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association’s fitness trials over the weekend and the withdrawal of the men’s national basketball team, the Bahamas Olympic Committee announced a 65-member team with about 10 officials who will represent the Bahamas at the Central American and Caribbean Games.

The four-yearly games are set for November 14-30 in Veracruz, Mexico and the Bahamas will be participating in 10 different disciplines in rowing, athletics, men’s volleyball, sailing, swimming, cycling, judo, boxing, tennis and bowling, making this the largest team ever to compete.

Since making its debut in 1962 in Jamaica where Prime Minister Perry Christie won his first and only international medal when he captured the bronze in the men’s triple jump, the Bahamas has recorded a number of historic feats with Nathaniel Knowles winning the first medal in boxing, a silver in 1974. In 2010, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace became the first swimmer to win a gold medal and Valentino Knowles was the first boxer to secure a gold medal.

“We’ve had great success in these games overall,” said BOC president Wellington Miller, who will head the Bahamian delegation that will include chef de mission Cora Hepburn, who will be assisted by Ralf McKinney. “We are looking forward to having a great performance down there from our athletes.

“We are not only looking for athletes from the disciplines that normally win, but we are looking at the other disciplines that don’t normally win. Volleyball is right on track to winning and we hope that they can carry that winning ways that they are bringing over from the other events that they have participated in.”

Announcing the list of athletes for the team, BOC secretary general Rommel Knowles said the Bahamas Basketball Federation has decided not to take the men’s national team as they were unable to field all of the professional and collegiate players they had anticipated.

“Some of them (professional players who are on contract) felt that if they were to go, they need to be compensated because they are professionals, but in the BOC, we don’t pay athletes,” Knowles said.

And when asked if he’s aware of whether or not the BBF would be subjected to any fines or suspension because of their withdrawal, Knowles referred the matter to the federation, who will have a better understanding of what, if there are any penalties issued.

Efforts to contact the BBF for comments were unsuccessful.

As for the rest of the team, Knowles said that while bowling is not an Olympic sport, it’s the mandate of the BOC to grow all sports in the country and to ensure that they are provided with every opportunity to compete abroad at the highest level of competition possible.

And with the BAAA implementing a “fitness trial” over the weekend at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, Knowles said they are in agreement in that they would like to know that all athletes travelling to represent the Bahamas are fit and ready to compete.

“Puma is our sponsors and we have to add value because they are spending a lot of money with us and it hinges on the fact that our athletes are competing and they have to compete at a very high level,” Knowles said. “There’s no secret that we’re measured by how many athletes we put on the podium.

“Track and field has been the premier sport for a long time and we have to take in consideration that the track and field season is closed, but some athletes still maintain a high level of fitness. So we want to ensure that all of our athletes compete at a high level of competition.”

Knowles said with the track and field season closed, the BOC will not be sending all or the majority of the elite athletes who are subvented by the government, but they are still pleased with the list of athletes who have passed the “ftness test” and are ready to go.

And with volleyball breaking the barrier by taking its men’s national team, Knowles, a former volleyball player, said it was good to see the sport get to compete and they were looking forward to getting basketball to travel. But in the future, Knowles said more sports will be given the opportunity to send their athletes off to compete.