The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LAST month, the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation hosted its annual general meeting and election of officers and all of the executives were returned to office unopposed.

Joel Stubbs, who will head the federation for his second four-year term, said they are pleased with the vote of confidence by the membership.

"I thought we did very well," said Stubbs of their previous term in office. "Anyone who would have graced any of our competitions would have seen us in action. I think we did a 180-degree turnaround.

"So moving forward, I can say that this sport demands a lot of time and money, but the results are shown in the success that we have achieved, which is a contributing factor to our team getting back in office."

Joining Stubbs on the executive team are Kenny Green, vice president, Wellington 'Cat' Sears, first vice president, Lillian Moncur, secretary general, Steven Robinson, secretary and Brittany Hamilton, treasurer.

As they prepare for this term, Stubbs said they are looking forward to engaging more of the community, especially the high schools where they hope to formulate a national high school tournament.

"We have all of the trainers in the various gyms and we hope that the schools will take advantage of them in their training," Stubbs said. "We're hoping that we can get some sponsorship where we can pay for discounted memberships for them to participate in their training."

Stubbs said they will be pursuing corporate Bahamas and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to assist them in this venture because they want to reach out to a wider range of competitors to compete in the sport.

"If we can get about 10 boys and girls out of the high schools, who are not interested in the basketball, or softball or track and field, to come into the gym and be properly trained in the sport," he projected.

"We just need to get them into the gym and give them about a hour to train and then get them prepared to compete in a national high school tournament.

"This is a new format that the international body is introducing and we want to comply with what they are doing."

Stubbs said he would be happy to address the various school assemblies to give the students the importance of lifting weights to assist in their growth and development. If schools are interested, Stubbs said they can contact the federation.

As for the calendar of events, Stubbs said they are looking forward to staging a fun run/walk race that will provide the public the opportunity to mix and mingle with the bodybuilders. Details of the date and location of the event will be announced shortly.

"We have a very good team of executives and I'm very proud of what we were able to accomplish last year," Stubbs said. "We're hoping that we can build on that as we look ahead to the next four years."