The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE she’s thrilled about being a new mother, Kerrie Cartwright is also thrilled to be leading the Bahamas team to the Billie Jean Cup in June in Panama.

The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association named Cartwright as the player/coach for the team that includes Sydney Clarke, Larikah Russell and Simone Pratt.

They will play out of Group II from June 23-26 in Panama City on clay courts against teams from Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama and Uruguay in two pools, one with four teams and the other with three.

The winner of each pool will go to a playoff to determine which nation will advance to the America’s Group One.

“I’m excited. We did the same thing in Peru in 2019, but I’m just hoping that we are all ready,” she said. “I don’t know how things are in Panama with COVID-19, but I’m excited for our team and the competition that we will play against.”

At the last tie in Lima, Peru, in April 2019, the Bahamas defeated Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, but fell short in the promotion play-off against Peru. Cartwright, along with Danielle Thompson, Sydney Clarke and Sierra Donaldson represented the Bahamas.

Cartwright, who celebrated her 29th birthday on April 11, has played on the Fed Cup - now the Billie Jean Cup - since 2008, compiling a 19-8 win-loss record in singles and 8-6 in doubles.

This year, she is joined by Clarke, the 19-year-old freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who began playing Fed Cup in 2017 and is 1-3 in singles and 2-0 in doubles, the 36-year-old Russell, a former player/captain who played from 2000 and has 14-8 singles and 17-9 doubles record and 25-year-old Pratt, who played from 2010 and is 8-8 in singles and 4-3 in doubles.

“I haven’t seen the girls for a year and-a-half now, so I don’t know what to expect, but I know that it will be good,” she said. “I know that we are going to be ready.

“I know that me and Perry (Newton, president of the BLTA) will do some things to ensure that the girls are prepared to compete. So, we will see how things go.”

Having given birth to her son Kairo in 2020, Cartwright said her life has taken on a whole new meaning, but she still plays as much as she can in Washington DC where she has resided for the past year to maintain her fitness level.

“I’m just hoping that the girls are healthy and ready, and we can go,” she stated. “With times like these, things change overnight, so I’m just hoping that everything works out for this trip.”

As for motherhood, Cartwright said it couldn’t be any better.

“I’m loving it actually,” said Cartwright, who is home in Nassau on a break this week.

“It’s a blessing. Some people aren’t fortunate enough to be able to have a child.

“I’m able to have a child and still do what I love to do, travel and play, so I’m really blessed and grateful. I’m loving motherhood. Everyday is a new adventure with him. It’s a learning process. That’s what life is all about.”

In the meantime, it’s all about ensuring that the Bahamas is prepared for the trek to Panama for the Billie Jean Cup in June just before the men’s team of player/coach Marvin Rolle, Justin Roberts, Kevin Major and Baker Newman play in Davis Cup America’s Group III June 30 to July 3.