The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NO longer under contract with Muzino, triple jumper Leevan 'Superman' Sands has decided to start his own apparel line.

It's called: "Sands Pro Athletics Clothing Brand" and the slogan on the back is labelled: "Zero Excuses. Only Results."

If anybody knows Sands, he is one who prides himself on striving under all circumstances that he has been faced with in his life. So this latest venture is something that he feels defies his personality and it's something that he wants to share with as many people as he can who have followed his career.

"It's been in the making for over a year and-a-half now," Sands said. "Since I put it out there, a lot of people have been buying them, so I want the Bahamian public to start buying them too."

Designed in Auburn, Alabama, where he resides with his wife and children, the products are manufactured in Ohio. In the middle of the design is Sands' silhouette image from his bronze medal performance in the men's triple jump at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

It also includes wings in the Bahamian flag colours, which depicts Sands flying into the pit. And it has the Bahamas embroidered on it. "This is something that I always wanted to do," Sands said. "This is a dream that I had for a long time. I always wanted to produce my own clothing line. I like to dress and I always envisioned having my own athletic apparel. So just like a Nike, or Reebok or addidas, I decided to come up with my own apparel.

"I also want to eventually sponsor Bahamian athletes who don't have contracts. So I decided to com out with my own brand and wear my own clothing. I felt since I lost the contract with Muzino, I might as well start my own clothing line, rather than wearing clothes from a company that is no longer sponsoring me."

Since he has launched the product on social media, Sands said sales have been steadily climbing because they love what they saw.

"I've gotten a lot of positive feed backs," he stated. "I've had people all the way from England ordering stuff. So I've getting huge support from people all over the world."

Eventually on his website: www.sandsproathletics.com, which highlights his track club, Sands said he intent to have a store constructed where Bahamians can make direct orders with credit cards for the t-shirts priced at $22, men's tank tops at $20, snap back hats at $25, hoodies at $35 and long sleeve shirts at $26.

Orders, however, are currently obtained through PayPal or Cash Up. But for now, patrons in the Bahamas will have to use a US address to have their items shipped too. Hopefully, Sands said he intent to have the items on sale in a few stores in the Bahamas and at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

"I just hope that the Bahamian people will continue to support me because they know I support the Bahamian people," Sands stated. "I'm just hoping that I can get some support from the clothing line."

As he venture in this business project, Sands assured the Bahamian public that he's not done with competing. He was disappointed that he was left off the team that competed in the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, but he traveled to Grenada over the weekend where he was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 7.30 metres or 23-feet, 11 1/2-inches on his third attempt.

"I was excited to go to Grenada. It was a last minute thing. I went there last year and I did the same thing, compete in the long jump and I didn't even trained for it," he said. "It was fun. It was a nice fun meet. It's always good to take a little break from the triple jump and save my legs.

"I jumped two weeks back-to-back in the triple jump. I had a small met in UGA and I won that with 16.21m and in the Auburn meet I jumped 16.39m in the triple jump. So I am just getting back into form and I'm feeling good. I think the 16.39m would have been a fourth place at Commonwealth. If I was there, I'm sure I would have jumped further. I'm not crying over spill milk. I'm just moving on and pushing it forward. I'm the bounce back king."

The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' Athletes Representative said he may take in one or two more meets before he come home for the BAAA's National Championships in June and to prepare for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia in July, if he is selected by the BAAA and the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

"I'm still training. Training is going good and I'm feeling good," said Sands, who is self-coached, but is coaching a number of high school students and some pro athletes at Auburn University and the Auburn High School. "I still have high hopes of jumping 17m. I think it'd possible with the way my training in going.

"Anytime I'm jumping over 16m from eight steps, that's a good sign. I haven't jumped over 26m with eight steps since before the injury. So that's a great time to see that I can still pop over 26m in the triple time. I haven't done that in a long time."

Now that he

"I want to take on coaching some of my Bahamian young jumps," he emphasized. "I prefer to be here training. I prefer to be where I am more comfortable with no stress or any pressure where I feel more appreciated. That's something I want to do for some Bahamians who are coming out of college and transitioning into becoming a pro."