TRAINING DAY: Coach George Cleare shows national 400 metre record holder Steven Gardiner his time during a training session.
By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
WHEN the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations sends in its team for ratification by the Bahamas Olympic Committee for the 2016 Olympic Games, it’s expected that George Cleare will be pegged as the head coach.
The BAAA, or the governing body for the particular sport, makes their recommendation on the management team to the BOC who is left to make the final selection for events such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games, which fall under their jurisdiction.
Cleare, back home since November after completing a sting as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia, is coaching national 400m record holder Steven Gardiner, who has already qualified, and potential team members Lanece Clarke and Andretti Bain.
As he waits for the final approval from the BOC, Cleare is busy assisting the BAAA in getting all four relay teams – men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metres – qualified to compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when the games are held August 4-21.
“When we want to talk about being serious about our relay teams making the finals and winning medals, it (qualification) has to be done the year prior to the games,” Cleare said.
“With our scenario where the majority of our athletes train in different parts of the United States or in Jamaica, we don’t have the luxury of having them all home. We usually only have everybody home when they come for the trials.”
What the BAAA is going through now, in terms of trying to get all of the teams qualified, Cleare said it should have been done from last year. But he put those responsibilities on the previous administration, headed by Mike Sands, and not on the newly elected board, now headed by Rosamunde Carey, who only took office in November.
“With the new administration just coming in, we can’t put the blame on them because it’s very hard to qualify a team early in the year when a lot of athletes are not in the shape that they want to be in, especially the developmental athletes,” Cleare said.
“Right now our men’s 4 x 4 team has already qualified, but that’s because they are one of the best teams in the world. During the era of the ‘Golden Girls’, we never had to take them to a qualifier because anytime they stepped on the track at an international event they were good enough to qualify for the following year.”
Cleare said the goal is for the Bahamas to place all four teams in a lane in Rio, but he’s hoping that when they head to London, England for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, qualifying won’t be an issue for the Bahamas’ relay teams. “We should have a concept to say this is the way we will go, this is the style of baton passing that we will be using and this is the method that we think will have us consistently running fast and we can build on it so every year we can get better and better,” he projected.
“But until such time, we have to be the best that we can be. I think our athletes are rounding into shape and if everybody is healthy, a big part of what is happening in Rio, especially with the relays, will be with the help of our athletes. So we just have to hope that everybody is healthy and ready to go once we get to the games in August.”
Right now, the men’s quartermile team has their tickets booked and the women’s quartermile team is right in contention for one of the top 16 spots.
However, both the men and women sprint relay teams have to secure their tickets by running in a meet with more than three different countries entered and the BAAA is working on that process at the conclusion of the National Open Track and Field Championships, scheduled for June 24-25.
“In terms of the makeup of the teams, the trials will basically decide, based on their finish at the trials, how we will set up the team and who will be a part of those squads and who will be available to travel with the squads,” Cleare said.
“As you know, some of our athletes will already have a schedule put in place for them to travel and compete in meets before they go to Rio, but I hope we can get everybody involved in doing what is right to help Team Bahamas to do what is right to get over the hump.”
With Cleare taking advantage of the facilities at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium through his High Performance Management Team, he’s hoping that the athletes will get a chance to get together following the nationals here at home before they head to Rio.
“I also heard that there are some things in the making for the team to travel to a camp before the games, but I’m not privy to what is going to be done,” he said. “Right now, I am taking advantage of the warm weather that we have here.
“I brought my athletes in and we are trying to find ways to improve on our performances from last year.”
Only time will tell, once he’s selected as the team’s head coach, how well the Bahamas will do in Rio whether it’s in the individual events or the relay teams.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
OpenID