The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a successful launch at the beginning of the month, incumbent president Rosamunde Carey and her Bonafide Innovators team took their campaign to Grand Bahama over the weekend as they seek to win another four-year term in office of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations.

Carey, who became the first female president of the BAAA when she ousted Mike Sands in 2015, will be contesting her second consecutive term when she gets challenged by Drumeco Archer, her executive secretary, when the elections are held on November 24, following the annual general meeting on November 23.

Flanked by her first vice president candidate Carl Oliver, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Philip Gray and her campaign manager Curtis Pride, Carey said her team is focused on the work at hand and has proven that they are capable of continuing to carry the mandate of the BAAA in the future.

Other members of her team not present were Sandra Laing (2nd Vice President), Gail Clarke (Vice President - Finance), Cedricka Rolle (Vice President - Business Operations) and Patrick Adderley (Vice President - Technical Operations).

“I think my three-year tenure in office, despite some setbacks with non-functioning executives, has been very productive,” Carey said on her return from Grand Bahama. “I think that we were able to accomplish a lot of the pillars that we said we were going to do during our campaign.

“One of the major things that I can think about was the introduction of the new constitution. I would say as far back as 2009 when we were at the World Championships in Berlin, we had a conversation with the then legal adviser and he was very clear that our constitution was very weak and it needed to be restructured.”

At the time, Carey was serving as the treasurer of the BAAA. But with their term in office completed that same year, she said when she decided to come back and run for president in 2015, she was surprised that the constitution was still a big issue and nothing had been done even after it was strongly recommended that they amend it.

As a result of their failure to make the necessary changes, the BAAA eventually was found not in compliance with the sports policies for the country and, as such, was not granted any funding by the Ministry of Finance. However, when she came into office, Carey said Oliver was able to get a stay in the Ministry of Finance as they worked on the amendments to the constitution.

With the constitution now amended, only registered and financial clubs will be allowed to vote and not any executive members for a structured board that will comprise of the president and six vice presidents with specific duties. It’s the same process at general meetings where only clubs are allowed to vote.

At present, there are about 70 clubs on record who are eligible to vote, along with Pauline Davis-Thompson, the IAAF councilwoman, the only person outside of the executive term, that has that privilege.

As another feather in her cap, Carey said her administration was able to carry all of their national teams to compete in regional and global meets without having to ask parents to pay or athletes to go and solicit sponsorship.

“What I would like to see happen, but unfortunately is not happening, is that people will look at the issues and not look at personalities, but look at the strength of the individuals, the records of the individuals and the abilities of the individuals and then make their determinations and what they are capable to accomplish.”

And even though she is being challenged by one of her executive members, Carey said she’s not concerned at all.

“His record doesn’t stand next to mine. There is no strength in his record,” she simply stated.

Should or when she is re-elected, Carey said there are a couple of things they would want to concentrate on, inclusive of fund raising to ensure that their teams travel and they can carry out their administrative chores, their policies are in place to coincide with their regional partners and they provide the incentives for their athletes and coaches.

“This team parallels our first team, United Purpose. We had a team that was skilled and had a lot of purpose,” she said. “This Bonafide Innovators team just seek to build on what United Purpose left in place. This team also has the highly skilled, committed and dedicated members. This team shows me that we have the depth and the foundation to move the federation forward.”

Carey thanked Tonique Williams, the outgoing first vice president, Norris Bain, the second vice president and Mildred Adderley, the assistant treasurer, all of whom will not be seeking re-election. Mabeline Miller, the assistant secretary, is currently serving as the interim chief executive officer of the BAAA and will oversee the elections. She won’t be running either.

However, incumbent treasurer Sharon Gardiner will be running on Archer’s slate, along with statistician Rupert Gardiner.

Oliver as First Vice President

Although he lost to Archer for the post of secretary general during the 2015 elections, Oliver said he remained committed to assisting Carey and her team, especially in the amendment of the new constitution.

“I provided the much-needed assistance to ensuring that we completed the constitution. I chaired that body and I think we did an excellent job,” Oliver said. “Going forward, being a part of Bonafide Innovators, I will still do what is required as a senior person in the Ministry of Finance to provide whatever is required of me to move the organisation forward.

“We have a lot of work to do and as articulated in our plan, I will do whatever is required of me to function in the capacity of first vice president.”

Having worked behind the scenes with Carey, Oliver said he feels she deserves another term to complete the job that she started in 2015.

“I was a part of the 2012-2015 administration and I would say that there was nothing that we could say we accomplished,” he staid. “So when you compare it to Mrs Carey’s tenure from 2015 to now is amazing. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to be a part of her team going forward in the next four years.

“I’m sure that whatever we have encapsulated in our plans moving forward, under Mrs Carey over the next four years, we will be able to achieve them.”

Gray as Vice President of

Marketing and PR

Having gotten his feet wet in the public relations department over the past three years, Gray said he’s even more focused and committed to carrying out his mandate if he is re-elected.

“I’m very encouraged by the visionary leadership of Rosamunde Carey. I found her to be very industrious, hardworking at all times and there was a clear agenda at all times,” he stated. “She was very focused on the transformation of the federation and there’s always been a unique interest in our youth, our athletes and the advancement of our coaches and the federation as a whole.

“We have began the process of transformation of the federation, which the constitution of the federation is taking us to a true business model. In order for us to complete the transformation, we need this second term to transform the federation into the business model that will allow the federation to mushroom, develop and to grow into a model that can be comparable to the federations around the world.”

During his tenure, Gray said he was able to introduce a number of initiatives and he intends to continue to rebrand the BAAA once he is given the opportunity to serve again.

Pride proud to be

campaign manager

As the immediate past president of the Coaches Association, Pride said he was very impressed with the manner in which the executive board performed under the tutelage of Carey.

“I sat on the past executive board and I must say the operation of that board was nowhere near or close to the high level of the current one,” he pointed out. “Mrs Carey, as president, demonstrated to me that she has the leadership skills to lead our association into a contemporary association.

“I just want to say to all of our coaches out there, we don’t need a new president at this time. What we need is to continue in the direction that we started with the constitutional reform. We just need to hold our president accountable and give her and her team the support that they need with policies to move us forward.”

During their past three years in office, Carey and her team boast of the following achievements:

1. The ascension of the new constitution on April 1, 2017.

2. Project Hurricane Relief November 2016.

3. Gala Awards

4. Trackside Magazine publication.

5. Production of the first AGM booklet, consistency with industry standards when convening AGM meetings.

6. 65th Anniversary Exhibition at the Mall at Marathon and newspaper supplement.

7. The institution of the Annual Executive Conclave for strategic planning for the new fiscal year.

8. The implementation of Trackside Administration, which brought the office and affiliates to the coaches and athletes.

9. The successful hosting of the IAAF/BTC World Relays 2017; the Flow CARIFTA Games Bahamas 2018, CARIFTA Congress and CARIFTA Ball.

10. Diversification and expansion of partnerships and sponsors of the federation.

11. Successful and improved medal podium standing at regional and global meets.

12. The implementation and hosting of the annual media luncheon.

13. Expansion of social media communication with federations, constituents, partners and all stakeholders.

14. Consistent and effective inclusion of athletes’ representation in executive decision making.