The Tribune

BY BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in the local sports scene, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

I have to give kudos to the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations for sticking to their decision to only select athletes for individual events who would have met the qualifying standards for the CARIFTA Games to be held in St Kitts & Nevis over the Easter holiday weekend.

At the completion of the final trials over the weekend at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, 10 competitors attained the standards, set by the BAAA, in the under-18 girls’ division, while 13 did in the under-18, just five in the under-20 girls and seven in the under-20 boys.

From my calculation, that’s a total of 35.

However, there was a 51-member team ratified following the contentious meeting on Sunday in the conference room at the Ministry of Youth, Sports Culture. The additional 16 athletes, and not eight as originally reported, have been included on the team for relay purposes in all four divisions.

Although they have not qualified, BAAA president Mike Sands said it will be up to the discretion of the coaching staff to utilise the athletes in individual events wherever they deem necessary. That means that wherever there are no qualifiers, individual athletes can be inserted in those events.

So did the BAAA really stick to its guns in the selection of the team?

It took the BAAA about three hours during their meeting with the coaches to finally decide on the make-up of the team after there was much debate over whether or not athletes should have been added to the team for relay purposes, considering that they had not qualified.

There was even a motion on the floor to leave all of the athletes who didn’t qualify at home since there seemed to have been a issue on who should have been added and who should not have. Reluctantly, the motion was eventually taken off the floor and the athletes were added.

The BAAA admitted that they were at fault because they were not specific in the criteria for the addition of athletes for relay duties.

This only goes to show that while it’s okay to make a verbal statement, the BAAA will probably have to secure that in the future, the criteria is properly recorded in black and white and disseminated to the relevant coaches and athletes in ample time so that everybody is on the same page with the selection of the team.

The BAAA found itself in this dilemma after finishing seventh in the medal count with just one gold from its total of 19 medals at last year’s games in Martinique. The BAAA feels the change in policy will enable the athletes to work a little harder in order to make this year’s team.

I believe in athletes being awarded for the work they put in. Making the national team should be a bonus and not a luxury because it means that you don’t have to put in the extra work to attain the level of success required. Yes, these are young athletes, but there still should be no excuse for not performing up to par.

There was the argument of a 14-year-old thrower who missed the qualifying mark by a whisker and a distance runner whose time was off the mark, but faster than times produced by some of the top regional participating countries and they were not included because the BAAA didn’t want to open a “can of worms.”

While the bulk of the discussion was on the athletes added for relay duties, it was also pointed out in the meeting that the first and probably only criteria that should have been considered is the positions that the athletes finish in respective events for the relays, such as the 100 and 400 for the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays respectively.

Not knocking the athletes who qualified and are placed in the relay pools, but if I’m competing to qualify in the individual 100 and 400, I think I should be given some consideration for selection for the relay teams first. To me, that’s the best way to strengthen the team because they have been trained to compete in those events.

As I said from the beginning, I commend the BAAA for the stance it took in selecting the team. I just think that the process has its flaws and until they tighten it up, there will always be ways for coaches to try and manipulate the system to get their athletes included on the team.

Having said that, we will have to wait and see if there is an improvement on the team’s final position at the end of the games to really make a fair determination of the new policy that the BAAA is implementing.

We wish the team, headed by Doris Rolle-Ramsey as manager and John Ingraham as head coach, every success in St Kitts and Nevis.

CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2015

The Bahamas Softball Federation hosted a dual induction ceremony at Government House.

Firstly, both Oria Wood-Knowles and Rommell Knowles were enshrined into the International Softball Federation’s Hall of Fame by its visiting president Dale McMann. It was a delight to watch two individuals, who have laboured long and hard, join the list of 13 other Bahamians who preceded them.

And before the night was over, the BSF and its president Burkett Dorsett inducted 30 players, administrators and sponsors into their own Hall of Fame. It was so good to see persons like Anthony ‘Bubba’ Douglas, Cornelius ‘Money’ Williams, Larie Newton and Leona Roache among the honourees.

As another recipient Hyacinth Farrington so aptly put it, it’s good to see all of them “getting their flowers” while they can enjoy it. Unfortunately, Keva Turnquest was honoured posthumously and both Roache and Paul Demeritte weren’t at full strength as they made it to the front of the room.

These type of inductions are something that I feel should be done in all sports throughout the country because the Bahamas has been blessed with athletes who have performed exceptionally well, both locally and internationally, and in most cases, have not gotten the kind of recognition that they so rightfully deserve for their accomplishments.

THE WEEK AHEAD

This is definitely a critical time for the Bahamas Football Association.

After getting blanked 5-0 in the first leg of their home-and-away match against Bermuda in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying tournament, the team - laden with collegiate players - is in Bermuda where they will try to return the favour when they clash again on Sunday.

The team, however, will be without some of the more seasoned players who are off to El Salvador where they will be playing in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship March 28 to April 4. It will be interesting to see how both teams handle the pressure.