The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH April Smith and her husband love coming to the Bahamas so much that they have made the Blue Chips Athletic Club's annual throwers' summer camp a top priority on their list.

The duo is back here for the fifth consecutive year to work with Blue Chip Athletic Club's president and coach Corrington Maycock for the week-long clinic at Queen's College.

"A lot of the kids are returners and I have seen them four or five times and their maturity level is improving," said Smith, an assistant coach in charge of the Fresno State throwers group. "We want to see them get ready for that level, which is exciting. It's exciting because they are getting at that age when they go to school on college scholarships, so it's been fun watching their progression and from having body parts and not knowing what to do with it to having body parts and knowing what to do with it."

Smith, now in her fourth season at Fresno State, said the past two days they worked on the shot put, then today and Thursday it will be discus and on Friday they will conclude with the javelin and hammer.

"These kids are just great. Usually, you have one or two who fall asleep, but they are not doing it here," Smith said. "They are soaking everything in and are paying attention to a lot that we have been teaching them."

Her husband, Bob, said he's more excited about the talent level of the athletes at the camp.

"This is probably the most talented or potential talent that we have had at this camp," he said. "A lot of them are really young as far as their throwing, but when you think about what they can become, it's amazing."

The former throws coach at Appalachian State indicated that one of the things that he wishes is that the campers all continue to develop their careers in the sport and do not give up.

"I never ever want to have a kid that says 'I came to the camp, but that was not for me, I just want to quit,'" Smith pointed out. "I enjoy being out here with them and I want to see them come back and participate in the camp.

"I want to see how much progress they have made in a year. The kids who were here last year and the year before have made some leaps and bounds in their disciplines.

"That is my favourite part because we can make some adjustments to what they are doing. So we will come back next year and see what they are. That's my favourite part in coming to the Bahamas where they can only get better."

Maycock, a former thrower who excelled at the CARIFTA Games, said the Smiths do an excellent job with the throwers and that is the main reason why they are invited back year after year.

"We also work with our throwers in obtaining higher education on scholarships. If it's not free, they make it as cheap as possible, so it's always a great feeling to have them here," Maycock said.

Maycock, who regards the Americans as Bahamians because of what they do, said if April could return here 100 times she would, but Bob may opt for less time because of the heat.

When they return to the United States, Smith will be preparing Bahamians Latia Saunders and Tahj'Nee Thurston, to whom she granted athletic scholarships during one of her previous visits to the camp.

Although she's in her senior year studying accounting, Thurston is eligible as a junior to compete on the team. Saunders, a graduate of St Augustine's College, will be heading into her sophomore year. The biochemistry major reached the finals at the Mountain West Championships where she placed eighth with a mark of 39.30 metres or 128-feet, 11-inches.

"Latia Saunders came in and she did a wonderful year in our conference," Smith said. "Being a freshman, that's very tough to do, but she did a great job.

"And Tahj'Nee did an incredible job this year. Indoors she was ranked 15th and she ended up in ninth and she also got the Bahamian national record in the weight throw. In outdoors, she was also ranked 16th and ended up ninth.

Smith said she's expecting some more great performances and accomplishments from both Thurston and Saunders when they start competing in their indoor season in January.

With the Smiths in town, Maycock said they are concentrating on developing the maturity of the throwers involved in the camp.

Hopefully, that will enable the Smiths to come back and recruit some more throwers to the United States.