The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT was one year ago on Thursday, March 12, 2020 on day one of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s National High School Track and Field Championships that Director of Sports Tim Munnings announced that the three-day meet had to be halted.

The announcement at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium reverberated throughout the country as all sporting activities with large gatherings had to be stopped due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

It also closed down all sporting facilities, including training gyms and outdoor parks, thus denying persons to congregate in small gatherings as well.

One year later, the pandemic is still here and sporting activities are slowly rebuilding with very few organisations, such as swimming, track and field, tennis, softball and baseball being granted permission to resume activities by the Competent Authority and the Ministry of Health.

Munnings said they never envisioned that COVID-19 would continue to ravish to the point that the majority of sporting bodies have still not returned to any competition.

“At that time, we really didn’t know what to expect, everyone was alarmed and nervous as we watched and listened to the news of how the virus was taking a grip on other countries,” Munnings said. “Of course, once we heard that it was on our shores, I don’t think we thought it would last this long. We thought it would have been a passing bug, but it has taken a hold everywhere and it has changed our way of life, certainly for what appears to be the long term.”

Like every dark cloud, Munnings said there’s always a silver lining and with the first vaccine dosages now in the country, he’s hoping that things will start to get brighter for the outcome of sports.

“The Olympic Games, which were postponed from last year, will be held this year and we know that CARIFTA has been postponed a few times, but we’re hoping that they will all take place,” Munnings said. “With the vaccination coming on stream around the world, hopefully that will enable more persons to get a chance to get it, so we can get back to some type of normalcy.”

On the local front, Munnings noted that the Competent Authority and the Ministry of Health are moving cautiously in allowing the local federations and associations the approval to resume their competition, albeit under some strict protocol guidelines.

“We know that everyone is anxious to get out and break that sweat, but we know that the government has to balance the restrictions, understanding the need for sporting activities, but also the health and safety of everyone,” he pointed out.

During the pandemic, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture just ushered in a new Minister, Iram Lewis, who replaced Lanisha Rolle after she resigned as the first female to hold that position.

Munnings, reuniting with his former national track and field team-mate Lewis, said they have been making the rounds to the various sporting venues and will be holding meetings with the relevant sporting bodies as they chart the way forward in the new norm for sports. “He has scheduled a series of meetings to touch base with the sporting organisations to hear what they have to say,” he said.

“Time is short because we’re almost to the end of the fiscal year, so financially there’s very little he can do with programmes,” said Munnings.

“He would have said and the Prime Minister charged him when he was sworn in on March 1 with bringing the Bahamas Games back. It’s a planning exercise, so we are trying to mobilise the resources to make that happen.”

But like he did when he first made the announcement that they had to halt all sporting activities in the country, Munnings provided this ray of hope to the sporting bodies.

“We appreciate your stickability. It’s been a rough year for everyone, but we hope that you can find a way to be creative in training your athletes and providing the competition for them to stay sharp,” he said.

“There’s hope on the horizon, so remain encouraged and committed to your craft, but we won’t be able to celebrate the achievements of the athletes without the coaches, you put in the time and energy with them.”