The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE not having the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational for the past two years, meet promoter Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown said it was an easy sell to entice an extensive line-up of international stars to come to the Bahamas to compete at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Saturday.

While there are some returning stars like Americans Justin Gatlin and LaShawn Merritt as well as Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, the meet will also see the participation of Grenada’s Olympic and world champion Kirani James, who will be matched against a star-studded field that unfortunately will be minus Brown, who will be concentrating on the promotion of the meet.

During a press conference yesterday at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Brown received the full endorsement from the Bahamas Government and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations as well as the financial support from a number of corporate sponsors, including A Sure Win, BTC, Asa H Pritchard, the Mail Boat and Bank of the Bahamas.

Also present was Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, and Timothy Munnings, the Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

Brown thanked the government, who is making good on their promise to provide the assistance in bringing the invitational back after it was postponed for the past two years, as well as the large amount of sponsors who made their commitment to assist this year.

“On behalf of BTC, and I think everybody knows that BTC takes seriously our role as a corporate citizen,” said Eldri Ferguson-Mackey, vice president of marketing, brand and communications at BTC. “We hope just by our contribution that your event is a success.

“Sports is just one of the pillows, in terms of what we do, and what we would like to see further in the community and we like what you represent, so this was a very easy decision to make, so we want to encourage you and encourage the rest of the sponsors here to put your funds behind sports, culture, youth. We have to make sure that we have to build those other pillows of our community.”

ASA H Pritchard will serve as the title sponsor for the junior programme that will be contested 11am to 5pm on Saturday. Jeffery Saunders, the brand manager for Florida’s Natural, said they are delighted to be able to assist in the manner in which they are doing.

“For us at ASA H Pritchard, when we heard about the young persons, that was what really got us interested,” Saunders said.

“We heard so much negativity, but from what we have seen in the past few weeks with the younger people in this programme, it was just phenomenal.

“Chris Brown was a sell, but after they said title sponsor for the youth part of this programme, it was all us. Florida’s Natural said let’s do this. We decided to do. As a corporate sponsor, we do a whole lot of stuff. You might not hear about us, but we do. When it comes to the younger persons, we do more, and the women, Florida’s Nautral is a serious mix for us.”

Saunders is advising the public to come out and watch these young people compete before they are entertained by the professional athletes when they come in the latter part of the invitational.

Leander Brice, the Co-CEO for A Sure Win, said the invitational was one of these events that really touched their heart after watching Brown perform over the years.

“If you take a look at the line-up, these are going to be a preview of what you will see in the Olympics,” Brice said. “Which better way to see it on our home soil. Most of us might get to see it at the Olympics, but here is an opportunity for us to see it right here on our own soil.

“We are going to have foreigners come in to see it, so it’s going to be a good blend. We have culture and tourism, which is what we do here as Bahamians. More powerful of all is that a Bahamian is putting on this event. So we reached out to them because we like what they are doing.”

Brice commended Brown for the role he is playing and he advised him that they will continue to support him in all of his future endeavours.

Representing Rosamunde Carey, president of the BAAA, secretary general Drumeco Archer said they are so thrilled to see the inclusion of the youth programme in the meet because they are built on a developmental programme that includes the young people in the sport.

“We are excited, not only to be sanctioning the event through our federation, but to see the likes of Kirani James, LaShawn Merritt, Veronica Campbell-Brown and all of the other podium athletes,” Archer said. “This is an impetus for our young athletes to see what happens on the world stage.

“As Mr Brice mentioned, this is really a prelude to the Olympic Games and I think that when you look at the contents of the Bahamas, we are one of the leaders, not just in our region, but in the world. Victor Lopez, the president of the North American and Central American and Caribbean Association said this region really dominates track and field and we are a part of the dominating factor.”

Archer said they are expecting a lot of fireworks to erupt on the track on Saturday.

Dr Daniel Johnson, the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, congratulated the organisers of the Local Organising Committee and Brown for bringing the invitational back for a second year.

“We have the High School Championships in Grand Bahama this week, Chris and I will be going there to lend our support, we have the launch of Junkanoo Carnival on Friday and then we head back here for the Chris Brown Invitational,” Johnson said.

“We will also be having our first air show with some fantastic speed in the air and we will have some fantastic speed on the ground.”

Johnson said he and Brown have met the majority of the stars coming to town this week and they have been well received as he has travelled around the world to their homes and their cities.

Having competed at four Olympics and going for his fifth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, Johnson said Brown will spearhead the launch of Team Bahamas on Saturday at 5:30pm with the most exciting video ever seen.

And Harrison Thompson, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, commended Brown and the LOC for putting on the event, which should be a high level and high-class event.

“Tourism is always happy to support events such as this  and we look forward to the impact that it will have on the Bahamas as far as the tourism is concerned,” Thompson said. “We are supporting as much as we can in joining the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, who is taking the lead role.

“We will be making sure that when these elite athletes come, they will receive the best accommodation that they possibly can. Our team is working hard, headed by Virginia Kelly, to ensure that everything will be in place for them when they come and we just want to ensure that they have a grand time as we showcase the Bahamas once again.”

Thompson said they believe that it’s still ‘Better in the Bahamas’ and the best is yet to come.