The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING the successful hosting of another Blue Chips Athletics Camp, head coach Corrington Maycock says three Bahamian athletes have secured athletic scholarships to schools in the United States.

Jordan Lewis was awarded a scholarship to attend Louisiana LaFayette University, but assistant coach for throws Shannon Popp won't expect him to take up the offer until January or August.

"It all depends on how well he does during the offseason which will determine exactly when he will go," Maycock said.

The others, Acacia Astwood and Latia Saunders, won't be able to take advantage of their offers to Fresno State and Louisiana LaFayette until August as they are both heading into their final year in high school.

"They can sign in November if they choose to, but I doubt they will sign until next year," Maycock said. "That's what the camp is designed for, to provide opportunities for scholarships.

"The coaches who came here are looking forward to giving out more scholarships in 2018. So we feel that the camp has been a success and we are looking forward to making it bigger and better next year."

During the camp held earlier in August at Queen's College campus, April Smith, an assistant coach for throws at Fresno State, along with her husband, Bob Smith, a throwers' coach at Central High School in Fresno; Popp and Christine Engel, an assistant coach for distance at Fresno State all participated.

Maycock said the three athletes selected were coming of a great year in which they won medals at the Carifta Games that was held in and at the Commonwealth Youth Games that was staged at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

"It was just a succession from what they did throughout the year," Maycock stressed. "They deserve to be awarded the scholarships. It's now my time to develop the ones behind them because these are the ones who accomplished what they aimed to achieve during the year.

"Their goals were to make the national teams, win medals and lock down scholarships. So it's just a matter of time. My job now is just develop the ones behind them so we can have a repeat of what happened in the 2017 season."

As the pacesetters in this era of throwers in the country, Maycock said he anticipate that they will once again be the leaders in terms of competing on the junior national teams next year.

"But our goal is not just the Carifta Games and the other minor events," he said. "Our goal is the World Under-20 Championships. Whatever happen in between there, we are not concentrating on them. The concentration is for the big one."

Maycock said there are a couple of athletes who came in from Andros and Eleuthera, whom the visiting coaches were interested in recruiting, but he said they have to go through the developmental process.

"The coaches saw some kids, they wrote down their names, but they say they want them to get developed so that they can look at them for the future," he said. "So we are hoping that we can get some more scholarships next year."