The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

AS it is no secret that most of the country’s national sporting bodies are attempting to build quality programmes, capable of both improving and expanding their respective disciplines, track and field through its parent associations is no different.

This past week, the recently minted Olympics’ women’s 400 metres gold medallist, Shaunae Miller, returned home to New Providence to celebrate her big win in Rio. The overriding theme of her island-wide tour seem to fall in line with the dynamic of developing a sustainable national programme for track and field.

In between the spectacle of an Olympic champion returning home to inspire youth to be all they can, Miller took time to give an update on her season and future career plans. During her visit to The Tribune on Friday, I had a few minutes to catch up with her as she discussed what it would take to advance the already successful track and field product.

A product of the St Augustine’s College (SAC) programme, Miller said the growth of track and field is already clear throughout the communities of the Bahamas.

“It isn’t the way it used to be when I was coming up and getting introduced to it,” she said. “There are so much more kids going out to track because a lot of parents want their kids to have a chance at the sport.”

In 2009, Miller transferred from Christian Heritage School to SAC, where she blossomed into certified talent on the track. In her time at SAC, Miller flirted with volleyball and basketball but found her place quickly once introduced to track.

“I see so much more athletes, young boys and girls learning how to run, falling in love with it and it makes me so proud. We have a lot of talented programmes at the different high schools now, with recruiters that look out for young athletes and would work with them to improve their skills as they get older.”

Over the last two decades, the Bahamas has earned a name for itself as a relay power, not only in the region but around the globe, with the success of the ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Golden Knights’ teams. The focus has been on building that legacy.

According to Miller, it was the belief that she could one day be a part of that legacy that inspired each stride she took. Further, she said it is that very same legacy that she wants to use to inspire kids aiming to ascend in the sport.

She claimed that while the initiatives geared toward private school students, or “kids that have the means”, there is an untapped market that is bursting with potential, waiting to nurtured and progressed.

“I would love to see someone go into the government schools now, help build-up those programmes,” she told me. “We have so many great athletes there that aren’t getting the needed coaching because they aren’t a part of a track club. They have the ability though, and with the right guidance, they can be someone great. In the government schools and the Family Islands, we need to grab a few of those athletes and allow them to grow and develop.”

Miller said the time is now for athletes like herself and other greats in the sport to turn their focus to the development of track and field. “I can’t speak for everyone,” she said, “but as for me, that is what I am trying to do - encourage and aid in the development of track and field. I want to go into the schools and interact with these young athletes that are coming up. Be accessible to them so that they can see that it is about the sport and the growth of it - not just me.”

Miller implied that if the sport is developed adequately, the Bahamas could see a wealth of quality and top-notch athletes emerge - and not just in track and field.

“I’m trying to inspire them to be great at their various disciplines,” she said. “I want to encourage them to take on an extra-curricular activity and become great at it. That is what we need more of. We have so much talent here: you see people like Buddy (Hield) and Jonquel Jones, who are excelling in play. Imagine what we can produce with all the resources, manpower and capital poured into the right areas.

“We have a lot of athletes doing well. We just need all hands on deck to help grow these disciplines.”

Currently, in my opinion, the Bahamas is blessed with a quality crop of great athletes in various disciplines - from Miller in track, to Buddy and Jonquel in basketball, Lucius Fox and Anfernee Seymour in baseball, Byron Ferguson in volleyball and even Alex Cooper and Mavin Saunders in American football.

From Shaunae Miller’s comments, can you imagine what we can be if the energies of these athletes and adequate capital are poured into these various disciplines?

The equation has remained the same for some time now; the raw and innate talent is built into the Bahamian genes. The unknown has always been what are we going to do as a country to advance the base points of all these sports?

Our athletes, particularly the young ones, are crying out for a fighting chance. The story should no longer be, in 2016, that an athlete made it big in spite of poor conditions coming up. The time is now for the narrative to be, they made it because the Bahamas has made an effort to build a system of excellence.

We made it this far on the sweat and perseverance of so many. Let’s make the switch now and build a lasting legacy.

• Comments and responses

to rwells@tribune

media.net