The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MARK the date: April 16, 2016.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Daniel Johnson, apologising for the lack of communication and proper planning that forced the cancellation of the second Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational on April 11, announced yesterday they have sealed the deal with Brown and will be working on bringing the international event back to the local calendar.

Brown, 36, was in town yesterday for the announcement at a press conference at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture where it was revealed that a team will be formulated within the next few weeks to prepare well in advance for the event which was started in 2013 by Brown as a means to bring top notch international competitors to compete in The Bahamas.

“We are budgeting and planning and we had a budgeting and planning conflict,” said Dr Johnson, when asked why the meet did not get the full support from the Bahamas Government this year. “

I think we have recovered from that and we have moved on and are getting ready for the year to come.”

“We have a tiny window for some of these things and unless we get them in, it’s difficult to follow through, so we have to go a year in advance into our planning and make sure that everything is in place.”

Now that they have sorted out their differences and they are committed to making the event a reality next year, Dr Johnson said he is confident that the sponsors will come on board and the fans can be prepared to see some keenly contested events by the visiting international stars.

Dr Johnson pointed out that “poor communication on both sides” played a major factor in the cancellation of this year’s event for the second straight year. Last year, the meet was called off because the new track in the stadium had to be replaced because it didn’t meet IAAF specifications for the hosting of the initial Word Relays.

“We apologise to the Bahamian public and the Chris Brown fans and also we had some things out there in retrospect that I didn’t think that was at all accurate,” he said. “And on our side of the Ministry, we really speak about national development and to keep this in the context of your national development plan and really to speak from that prospective on how we are going to improve on it and find the next ‘Fireman’.”

Once the proper planning is put in place, Dr Johnson said he is confident that Brown will end up having a fantastic meet next year as the government intend to bring five international sporting events that have international appeal along with five international cultural events that have global appeal to the Bahamas.

“We have to do better planning and better co-ordination,” he said. “It takes a critical mass of the right events at the right time to make it happen. So you will see we will be meeting with the right consultants and sponsors to see exactly how that will happen.”

Brown, who was peeved when he was forced to call off the meet last month for the second straight year, said as he moves forward, the focus will be on their communications as they sit around the table and work out all of the issues.

“The Minister has the same visions and views that I do in helping the next generation and I’m comfortable with it,” he stressed.

But having cancelled the last two attempts at putting on the meet, Brown said it’s going to take a great deal of planning, preparation and communication because it’s not just a Chris Brown thing, but a Bahamian thing.

“As long as we get the government on board, along with the Bahamian athletes coming home to participate, I think this is the key to the success,” he said. “So we’ve entered, like the minister say, a new phase in sports to where it’s a new thing or branding where we are ready to take the country to the next level and how we move sports and sports tourism in the country.

“I think that moving forward now, the relationship has gotten much better and I think we just need to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and communicate and lay the plans on the table and move forward so we can make the event a successful one just as they did the world relays. I look forward to having the same thing for CBBI next year.”

And although next year is the Olympics in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, Brown said he expects to have the majority of the top athletes in the world coming to compete in the meet simply because of the fact that it was cancelled for the past two years and they want to show their support,

“I think we may get more athletes coming down and performing simply for the fact that it is an Olympic year and they would want to see where they are early in the season. So a lot of athletes will be looking for a meet that early to see exactly where they stand,” he said.

Dr Johnson assured Brown that he will take the responsibility and assure him that they will partner with the people who need to get it done to get it done.