The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Move over Mike Sands. Rosamunde Carey is now the new president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations.

During the BAAA election of officers, held Saturday during their annual general meeting at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Carey dethroned Sands 44-40 to become the first female president of the biggest sporting body behind the Bahamas Olympic Committee in more than 60 years of their existence.

Carey, a former treasurer of the BAAA, and all but two members of her United Purpose slate went into office as Grand Bahamian basketball coaching icon Norris Bain beat out Troy McIntosh 50-41 for second vice president and Drumeco Archer ousted incumbent Carl Oliver 46-36 for secretary general.

Both Bain and Archer came from Sands’ One BAAA slate and were joined on the executive board by Frank ‘Pancho’ Rahming, who beat independent Andrew Tynes 43-31 for the post of statistician.

“I don’t think it has set it. It was such a long and tedious campaign. We were literally working from the beginning of February, working on our plan on how we wanted to transform the federation. We were engaging coaches and getting their feedback, so this is bitter sweet today,” said Carey as she celebrated with her team and well wishers during a party at The Sir Charles Hotel.

“Not all of our slate got in. One of the biggest disappointments for me was that my secretary general Carl Oliver didn’t get in. He and I worked so hard together. We also didn’t get Troy McIntosh from Grand Bahama. That was a bit disappointing, but nevertheless, the people spoke, so we just have to work with the people elected.

Others elected were Tonique Williams, 50-31 over Curt Hollingsworth for first vice president, Maebelline Miller, 49-35 over Stephanie Rahming for assistant secretary, Sharon Gardiner, 44-38 over Philippa Arnett-Willie as treasurer, Mildred Adderley, 43-40 over Laketah Charlton as assistant treasurer, Rupert Gardiner, 44-34 over Tyrone Burrows as statistician, Philip Grey (37) for public relations over Bianca Sawyer (31) and Dawn Johnson (16) and Dexter Bodie (43) and Grand Bahamian Sandra Laing (40) for special projects.

“We have to let every executive know exactly what their portfolio is. We want to look at what is urgent, what is pressing,” Carey said. “Right now, our constitutional reform going into those elections and after all of the issues that we had at and after the elections, that is need for the constitutional reform to be done immediately.”

The AGM nor the election was a straight forward process as the outgoing executive team didn’t want to allow a few clubs to participate in the voting process because they would not have competed for one or two years, including Rainbow Seven, which was allowed to vote during the recent elections for the Grand Bahama Amateur Athletic Association.

There was also a problem with the proxy votes that was submitted by IAAF Councilwoman Pauline Davis-Thompson, who was absent as she was attending a meeting in Monaco. Apparently, the BAAA claims that the proxy votes were not duly signed and they were thrown out.

Despite all that transpired, Carey said her new team will meet in conclave and they will start the preparation for the Year End Awards banquet at the end of the season, placing emphasis on the ethics committee and a number of other committees that will be working on helping to restore the integrity and the image of the BAAA, which was not even considered for the Federation Award during the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s inaugural awards ceremony last week.

Williams, who resigned during the last tenure in office as public relations officer, said they have pull together a compotent group of persons who will be able to take the association to the level that it should be at.

“We appreciate the naysayers out there who felt that we couldn’t do it,” Williams said. “We just want persons to take a look at what we are going to do. I think this is a team that is going to be there for the athletes, the coaches and the fans and make it better than it is right now. So to the naysayers, we say just take a step back and watch us perform.”

And Grey, the public relations officer, said they have been focused on their prize from the first day they formed their slate and now it’s time for them to execute their plan.

“We want to start working come Monday morning,” Grey said.

As for the challenge that he got from both Sawyer and Johnson, Grey said he loves competition, but because they were so eager to get their plans articulated, many people felt that they would not succeed. He reiterated the consensus of many others who were disappointed that Oliver and McIntosh didn’t get to complete their slate, but he said the work will go on.

Although he was disappointed in not getting re-elected, Oliver said he’s still delighted that Carey captured the presidency.

“We worked hard. When we were nearing the end of our campaign, we were challenging most of our attention on getting Mrs Carey elected,” he said. “I’m sure that she will make a change in the federation. But I will still be around. When you look at it right now, we had the majority of the team elected, so they now have to unite the federation as one in executing the plans that we set out.”

There were a number of persons who stopped in to wish Carey and her team every success, including Curtis Pride, the president of the Bahamas Coaches Association, who simply stated that “it’s a new day dawning” in the BAAA.

As one of the observers, coach Sidney Cartwright said he’s happy to see a new day coming within the BAAA.

“I think the country and the BAAA is heading into a bright new future under the leadership of Mrs Carey,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that Carl, at this time, lost his post, but he will still be there and they know that they can lean on him for his expertise and his knowledge. But I’m really excited to see where we are headed under the first new women president.”

Iram Lewis, the outgoing first vice president, now the new president of the GBAAA, said the United Purpose team, in his opinion, was always focused and geared towards making a difference and he’s elated to be able to work with them.

“I’m sure that they will embrace Grand Bahama, something that we have been asking for and I just trust that all of the winners and losers will recognise that this is bigger than anyone person,” Lewis said. “This is about the BAAA, the athletes, the coaches and the supporters. That is in the past. We now have to put the elections behind us and just look towards building a bigger and better organisation. For the first time in more than 60 years of existence, we have a woman at the helm, so we have to do what is right and what is best for the association.”