The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS a candidate for the presidency of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, Drumeco Archer made it emphatically clear that he's going to be different from his predecessors Mike Sands and Rosamunde Carey.

Archer, who will actually challenge Carey for the top post when the BAAA sits to elect a new slate of officers on November 24, said he's not making any promises, but he has assembled a team that will transform the BAAA when they take office.

At the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Wednesday night during the official launch of his Meco Team, which he calls "The Greatest of All Team", he dared them to "B The Goat."

The launch was different from that of Carey, who along with her "Bonafide Innovators" were formerly introduced by a junkanoo rush-out.

Using some gospel music as a backdrop, Archer and his slate introduced themselves on a monitor and explained why they are running for office.

Joining Archer on stage were Grand Bahamian coach Ravanno Ferguson as first vice president, Rupert Gardiner as second vice president, Sharon Gardiner as vice president of finance, Dawn Johnson as vice president of business operations, Kermit Taylor as vice president of marketing and public relations and veteran Frank 'Pancho' Rahming as second vice president for technical operations.

Archer took the time to explain why he selected the group of candidates to run with him in the elections.

At the completion, the floor was opened for a question-and-answer period where Bahamas Coaches Association president Shaun Miller Sr wanted to ascertain, on behalf of his members, what assurances they can get that they will be different from the other administrations. "I'm not in the business of making promises. I'm not in the business of making promises," Archer stated. "I'm in the business of developing coaches and developing athletes.

"If you qualify, you go. If you don't qualify, you stay your behind home. But that I will do is that I will ensure that you are qualified to go. When I become the president of this federation, every head coach and team manager will be named."

Saying that it's not a political campaign strategy for coaches to support him or to vote for him, Archer said it's all apart of his mandate to ensure that the federation is properly managed and by January 31, he intent to name all of the head coaches and managers for teams traveling in 2019.

"What does that do? It eliminates cost," he projected. "Immediately, I can go and find monies to pay for those tickets, as opposed to buying tickets two days before you travel and spend three times more.

"The team manager and head coach can manage every athlete, manage injuries, manage concerns and travel information very differently. And so far as the supporting cast that make up the team, that is non of my concern. It is a matter for the Coaches Association."

Archer, a former sprinter who admired fellow St Augustine's College superstar Maryann Higgs-Clarke, took the time to thank both Sands and Carey for demonstrating what the BAAA was, is and will be in the future.

"But I want to make it very clear, I am not Mike Sands and I am not Rosamunde Carey," he stressed. "We will run a programme that is a different programme all together.

"And I want Mike to be a part of that change. I say that to say, that the only way that this federation changes is if we change the mindset of that side and that side. The culture has to change. If we can't get to that first step, we might as well go home."

In changing the culture of the BAAA, Archer said they have to engage the members, which he consider the media, the fans, the athletes, the kids and their vision will be to grow their membership by the thousands.

Under his administration, Archer said the BAAA will be producing Bahamas Track and Field membership cards, the first of which he presented to the oldest serving member in the stands, Beverly Wallace-Whitfield, who also received a bouquet of flowers from Taylor and Laura Charlton.

All persons present also received a membership card.

At the end of Archer's presentation in which he encouraged persons to read the manifesto that they have produced to find out more about their plans, Wallace-Whitfield stood up in response and stated: "I approve this message," much to the delight of the cheering audience.

In the manifesto, Archer's team have outlined the following:

• Identify the best coaches and training resources in the world.

• Attract the best athletes from around the world to train in the best training conditions in the world and promote the slogan through sports that "It's Better in the Bahamas."

• Provide elite athletes with strong domestic competition environment.

• Provide a well-structured accreditation programs together with ongoing training and seminars to develop elite level coaches.

• Establish a talent development and identification program that would feed junior national programme.

• Foster a stable environment to ensure the co-existence of coaches, athletes and administrators.

And in order to change the culture, they intent to do the following:

• Establish a deeper presence in grassroot communities through the promotion of community competition and interaction.

• Provide a universal "Sports is for All" campaign, sponsored by the federation that provides access to free training and coaching to any athlete.

• Foster open communication at every level of coaching to provide the best resources and outcome to individual members.

• To create a national development program to ensure that certified coaches would visit Family Island communities to train Physical Education teachers and sporting stakeholders.

• To establish a lecture series where renowned track and field experts would speak to stimulate discussion and provide greater exposure to the innovation and science of the sport.