The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ON November 16, the Bahamas Olympic Committee will go to the polls to elect the next executive team to administrate the affairs of the top national sporting body in the country.

Incumbent Wellington Miller has not made a decision yet on whether or not he and his current executive team will be seeking another four-year term in office.

Miller, who promised to make his plans official by next week, said he's had a very successful tenure in office after he took over from Sir Arlington Butler.

"We have been able to accomplish a lot of things, we've made a lot of connections and we've gotten a lot of coaches off to courses to benefit the sports both locally and internationally," Miller said.

"Many of the coaches in the primary schools are learning the science of the sport, so you should find that coaching in the Bahamas should get better. We had about five or six sports involved in the primary schools where it will be very helpful."

In July, Miller said the Bahamas was able to host 64 countries in the Commonwealth Youth Games, the biggest sporting event to be staged in the country. He said it turned out to be a feather in the cap for their administration.

"When the Bahamas first accepted the responsibility to put on the games, other small Caribbean islands told us they don't know if we should reconsider it because we might not be able to pull it off," Miller said.

"But because of our success and the fact that we hosted it at such a high level, many of the countries in the Caribbean are now asking if they can host the games. In fact, what they are asking for is if they can get the opportunity even quicker by having it every two years instead of four years."

With the majority of the events being staged at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center where there were various venues for both the competitors and spectators to walk to and from, Miller said the Bahamas is now being used as a template.

"You would be surprised to know the amount of congratulations that we get from our international friends who are here," he pointed out. "I just got a call from Team England about how pleased they were in what happened here.

"I went to a meeting in Guyana last week and everybody was congratulating us on how we were able to pull of these games with just 18 months of planning. Everybody was just thrilled about how we put on these games."

While they wait for the elections to take place, Miller said his executives are already planning for the Commonwealth Games, scheduled for April 4-15 in the Gold Coast, Australia and the Central American and Caribbean Games, set for July 19-August 3 in Barranquilla, Colombia.

"Next year is going to be another big year for us," Miller said. "The good thing is that the Commonwealth Games is for our more senior athletes and the CAC Games are designed for our more up and coming athletes.

"So it's a good opportunity to see some of our senior athletes who are on their way out and the new people who are coming up to replace them. I think this will give us a good insight about where we are in sports."

With the Commonwealth Games scheduled so early in the year, Miller said he's heard that some athletes say they may not be ready to compete.

"We will see what happens down the road, but the Commonwealth Games will be the biggest meet for the senior athletes to compete in next year," he said. "So we are hoping that they will get themselves ready to compete."

In addition to athletics (track and field), Miller said the Bahamas is expected to be represented in swimming. There is a possibility that boxing and maybe cycling may also be included.

As for the CAC Games, the Bahamas Softball Federation men's national team has already qualified to compete and Miller said they are anticipating that there will be a few more team sports represented.

"We are looking forward to the possibility of volleyball and maybe even baseball participating," Miller said. "We have received an entry for fencing to be included for the first time.

"We are also looking for rowing to get to go because they have been to the Olympic Games, so we are looking to try and get as many sports as we can to get their feet wet at the CAC level."

Miller said the federation is hoping that the Bahamas will have participation in athletics (track and field), swimming, softball, baseball, basketball, boxing, cycling, judo, karate, rugby sevens, sailing, softball, tennis, volleyball, fencing and rowing.

"We're hoping that we can take our biggest team ever to compete in the individual and team sports," he said. "A lot of what we do will be decided once we have the elections. But we look forward to having a very big team compete at the games."