The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

rwells@tribunemedia.net

SYNONYMOUS with colleges and universities the world over is collegiate athletics.

One can’t mention Duke University without making note of the Blue Devil’s triumphs on the hardwood under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. No matter the name or value of the institution, make mention of it and the athletic triumphs and/or failures are sure to follow not so long after.

Here in the Bahamas, with the advancements of tertiary level education, from the College of The Bahamas to now the University of The Bahamas, one certainly expects a level of improvement in the area of collegiate athletics.

Well, this week in the Fourth Quarter Press, we delve into the vision and direction of Kimberley Rolle, the athletic director at the University of The Bahamas.

The Vision

Rebranding, improved school spirit, formal links with both the National Sporting Academy and the National Sporting Authority; links to international and local sporting bodies to ensure top-tier competition and development opportunities; and even plans to seek and procure corporate by-in to ensure continued development – all initial steps in the grand plan of Rolle, who insisted that it was time for the UB, like many of those other schools, to have a sporting platform not only to brag about but one capable of building a legacy.

While sports was only mentioned as component to a component last November during the school’s official Charter Day celebration, it was Rolle this past week using an adage adopted from her mother to best describe just how big of a component athletics will now become, saying in brief, it was time for the institution to put its “money where your mouth is.”

The Process

“But this brand identity is an important link to our overall development because it is something that connects our students, faculty, staff and administrators; our alumni community to the University,” stated Rolle last week during UB’s semi-annual “media information meeting” held on campus at the institution’s hospital training restaurant, Choices.

Today marks the official re-launch of the College of The Bahamas ‘Caribs’, with the team officials adopting the moniker, the University of The Bahamas ‘Mingos’.

Instituted under the umbrella of capital works, the University of The Bahamas’ sporting programmes has progressed rapidly over the last year.

This rebrand comes tied to the idea that UB, under Rolle, could cultivate beneficial partnerships with both the National Sports Authority – the organisation that oversees and manages many of the nation’s foremost sporting facilities; and the National Sporting Academy – an institution being designed to identify, enrol and development many of the nation’s premier sporting talent.

This is where the investment is needed.

This is where UB has to not only say it wants more, but show through investment and support that it is ready to build its brand.

“Over the past three years, very specifically, the athletics department has really worked consistently and hard at solidifying our athletic teams and really building a cadre of student athletes and coaches that the university and all of its stakeholders can be proud of,” added Rolle.

According to her, the level of success now expected has to take a gigantic step forward.

She added that for that level of success to be experienced and sustained, officials must now step up and show that if the effort is supplied by coaches and athletes, it is matched through facilities and resources put forth by UB.

“We are now starting to attract some good talent to the university and our teams are consistently becoming more and more competitive,” she said.

Rolle said top coaches from across the country that are still based here have now started to see UB as the perfect training ground to develop the nation’s next generation of stars.

That is the idea seen in both the soccer and track and field programmes at UB.

Of the soccer programme, Rolle said the team has “gone from the basement to the pent house” in a little over a year.

Of the track programme, well the team is just weeks removed from scorching top level competition at the inaugural Purdue University indoor track and field meet.

The level of success in these two areas have many believing that UB, if guided and resourced properly, could in a short period of time, build a successful collegiate athletic programme.

The End-Game

To every warrior, a battle is needed.

“Obviously there are no other colleges or universities here for us to compete athletically against, so the NAIA, particularly the Sun Conference, presents a very attractive option for us,” said Rolle.

According to the NAIA’s website, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, is a governing body of small athletics programmes that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics. The site went on to state that since 1937, the NAIA has administered programmes and championships in proper balance with the overall college educational experience.

It added that the student-athlete is the centre of all NAIA experiences. Each year more than 60,000 student-athletes have the opportunity to play college sports at NAIA member institutions.

Recently, the University of The Bahamas formally wrote the NAIA to indicate interest in aligning itself with the collegiate body.

As a result of that letter, the NAIA has amended its laws and procedures to allow entry to tertiary institutions outside of the United States and Canada. Now while this doesn’t guarantee UB a spot, it puts the process of inclusion on the front-burner, indicating to all involved that an end goal is in sight.