The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BREYDON Rosson and India Sweeting, the top male and female youth players in the country, are still basking in their success at the Caribbean Cup XX and the WAF Americas Cup VII in Tampa, Florida, in July.

Rosson, a 17-year-old graduate from St Anne’s High School, picked up a silver in both the Americas and the Caribbean Cup Championships, while Sweeting, a 15-year-old 10th grader at Queen’s College, teamed up with Rosson to win the mixed doubles in the Caribbean Cup.

Canada, Grand Cayman and the United States participated. Each country had two teams.

“We played from 1001 and so it was the first person to finish as a team,” Sweeting said. “Breydon finished the doubles, so we won first and we were neck and neck with the United States at the time and Breydon pulled it off and that was how we won the title.”

Teaming up with Rosson, Sweeting said she gained a lot of experience because he was able to guide her on her debut.

“I really enjoyed it and I shot some very good numbers,” Sweeting said. “In all honesty, I gained a lot of love for darts because at the beginning, I didn’t want to go because it wasn’t something that I wanted to do. But seeing the atmosphere and everything, I got more love for it.”

For the future, Sweeting said if she can work on her finishes, she should be in a better position to improve on her performance in 2016 when the next championship is held in Barbados. Hopefully, she said she will be able to juggle her spare time to practice as she is devoted now to playing softball, volleyball and competing in the high jump in track and field.

However, Sweeting could be heading to the World Championship in Turkey, if she get to qualify.

It was the second trip to the championships for Rosson, who participated in his first event in Belize where he was also second. But unfortunately, he won’t be eligible for any further junior championships and so his concentration will be on the senior level.

“I knew that I would be able to play much better this time because I was able to correct the mistakes that I made the first time,” Rosson said. “But the competition was very stiff. I went out there and I tried my best. It was tough, but I worked hard and I knew that I would do very well.”

The two competitors train and compete out of the Double Out Sporting Lounge on Collins Avenue.

Larry Sweeting, the father of India and a long-time Physical Education teacher, said they are looking at attracting more young people into darts because there’s an opportunity for them to follow in the footsteps of Rosson and his daughter to compete on the international stage for the Bahamas.

“We need to get more young people in the sport, but we know that a lot of people are scetpical of them competing because of the sharp objects that they have to throw,” he said. “But there is a lot of safety involved in the sport and there is an opportunity for them to travel.”