The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT IS 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 local sports, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK

THAT WAS

It’s not every day that you see leaders reach out to their former leaders and take the time out to celebrate the history of their sports.

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ president Rosamunde Carey should be commented for that gesture.

On Wednesday at Luciano’s of Chicago, Carey and some of her executives took the time out to honour the past presidents of the BAAA as the organisation reflected on their 65 years of existence.

All of the past presidents still alive were not all able to make it, but in attendance were Alpheus ‘Hawk’ Finlayson, Desmond Bannister, Foster Dorsett and Curt Hollingsworth.

While Sir Arlington Butler was not able to make it as he was off the island seeking medical attention, he was represented by his son, Alvin Butler.

Apologies were accepted from Mike Sands and Dr Bernard Nottage, the latter who was in the House of Assembly as well as Sir Orville Turnquest. Harold Munnings, Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper, Paul Adderley, Rev Enoch Backford, Alfred A Adderley, Cyril Richardson and Levi Gibson, the other past presidents, are all deceased.

The event was a nostalgic one as each former president got a chance to reminisce on their tenure in office after they were presented with VIP tickets by Carey for the third IAAF World Relays and a revised copy of the BAAAs constitution by office manager Ann Thompson.

“As past presidents, each one of you has significantly contributed to the success of the BAAA,” Carey, the first female elected as president, told the presidents and those persons present. “I stand here because of you.”

She noted that there will be others who will follow her, but she admonished the past presidents to join her in the vision to continue to build on the great legacy that the sport has developed over the years.

The revising and revamping of the constitution is the first step in reshaping the vision with the general body of the organisation as they move forward.

Representing his father, Alvin Butler, a former football player, said he didn’t know as much about his father’s involvement in the BAAA as he did with the Bahamas Olympic Committee where he got to travel to various international meets around the world.

But Butler said he could clearly remember helping to get Keianna Albury and some of the athletes from Eleuthera to compete in the BAAAs Nationals, despite the fact that the entry deadline had gone. He credited Hollingsworth for assisting in getting them registered.

Butler, however, called on the BAAA to go back into the Family Islands and recruit the talent that is available and he went a bit further to admonish the Bahamas Government to spend some of the “VAT” money in ensuring that it’s done.

This is no time to joke about the serious nature of our country, but again it’s about time that more attention is placed on assisting as athletes in all sports, not just athletics, to be discovered, natured and developed in our Family Islands.

Just imagine if more concentration is placed on those athletes who are diamonds in the rough on the islands, who are deprived of getting any better because they don’t have the facilities or the coaching expertise to get them to the next level.

I applaud the BAAA, Carey and her executive team for the contribution they are making to the growth and the development of the sport.

Since taking office, Carey, the former treasurer of the association, has reached out to their membership when they were in a crisis after the passing of Hurricane Mathew and now she’s reaching out to the past presidents to bring their wealth of influence to help push the sport even further.

Well done.

DAVIS CUP

By the time you would have read this, the first round matches of the American Zone II Davis Cup tie would have already got started.

It began today at the Doral Park Country Club in Miami, Florida where player/captain Marvin Rolle is leading the team of Spencer Newman, Philip Major Jr and Justin Lunn against Venezuela in their home match.

The atmosphere here in Miami is a very intense one and, from all indications, Venezuela is expected to have their largest crowd of supporters, not only coming from Venezuela, but from those who live here in the Florida area.

This is going to be a very crucial tie for the Bahamas because it marks the first time since the era of Mark Knowles, Roger Smith, John Farrington and John Antonas that the Bahamas will be playing out of Zone II.

Should the team be successful this weekend, they would assure the Bahamas will at least remain in zone II for 2018 or they will get a chance to get promoted to zone one.

A loss and the Bahamas will have to play in April to either avoid getting relegated to zone III or remaining in zone II next year.

With the make-up of the team here, we’re hoping that the former situation will develop and at least the Bahamas will be guaranteed of no less than remaining in zone II next year.

The team looks relaxed and focused. But for all the players except Rolle, they are going into unknown territory where the fans can get a little hostile. Thank God it’s not being played in Venezuela.

Just ask any of the former players and they will tell you that the South American teams are really crazy when it comes to supporting their Davis Cup teams.

With the close proximity to home, hopefully, there will be just as much Bahamians on the sidelines rooting for the team this weekend.

They will certainly need all the support they can get.