The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

OVER the past few years, the Rahming family has really taken the sport of judo to the next level.

But head of the clan D’Arcy Rahming Sr, who also serves as the president of the Bahamas Judo Federation, said they are just waiting on their breakthrough to finally ascend the medal podium. And he’s hoping that it will come when his children, Cynthia and D’Arcy Rahming Jr, represent the Bahamas at the 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games.

Judo will be one of the 10 sports that the Bahamas Olympic Committee has named this week to represent the Bahamas at the games slated for November 14-30 in Veracruz, Mexico. The federation is hoping to use the games as a tune-up for the Pan American Games in July in Toronto, Canada.

“There is a long process for the athletes to go through to qualify for the Olympics, but while the CAC is not one of them, it’s still a part of the Olympic cycle,” said Rahming Sr, who serves as the treasurer of the BOC.

“The majority of the athletes in judo are on the circuit. So what we saw at the junior worlds, it’s just a matter of experience. The person who Cynthia fought was the Brazilian champion, who had 27 head-to-head matches, while Cynthia only had two. So we have to get her as much experience as possible because we believe that the judo and all of the technical parts are there.”

Cynthia, according to Rahming Sr, has a lot more experience and is a step or two further than Rahming Jr in making her presence felt on the international scene. Cynthia has just returned from the Junior World Championships just after they both participated in the Commonwealth Games.

Although she didn’t win her match, Rahming Sr said he was pleased with the progress his daughter made and now he’s looking forward to the day when she finally excels to the next level.

“She’s improving, but we are looking for our breakthrough,” he said. “We’re not just going to these tournaments anymore just looking for improvement. We’re looking for a podium performance. We’re looking at finally putting judo in the place that we believe that it belongs, which is on par with the other sports.

“We don’t enter a match without thinking that we won’t win the match. So it’s not a form of arrogance when I say that we’re going to win the whole thing. It is just that we have to be in the mind frame to win it or the match won’t last for more than 15 seconds.”

Without facing the powerhouse countries in the region like Cuba or Brazil, Rahming Sr said he feels confident that Cynthia can perform very well at the CAC Games. He said she’s just as good as the other girls who are in the region who will be competing. So it’s just a matter of whether or not this will be her opportunity to put judo on the map with a medal-winning performance.

As for Rahming Jr, his father said that while his son has qualified to compete in the games, his concentration is a little different from Cynthia in that he’s leaning more to gaining as much knowledge as he can so that he can continue the family tradition as a coach.

“He’s a long shot for a podium performance. That’s a fact,” Rahming Sr said.

But as their father, coach and president, Rahming Sr said he will be happy with whatever performance they turn in.