The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbd@tribunemedia.net

THE Boxing Federation of the Bahamas’ five-member boxing team will return home today from the High School/Junior Championships in Georgetown, Guyana, with two gold and three silver medals.

Team Bahamas finished behind host and champions Guyana and ahead of third place Trinidad & Tobago and fourth place St Lucia..

Brothers Jaiden and Jailen Young, who are both trained by the team’s head coach Carl Hield in Miami, Florida, won the two gold medals, while the silvers were secured by Andrew Curtis, who is trained by Valentino Knowles; Keano Cox, who is trained by the team’s assistant coach Vincent Deleveaux, and Elijah Smith, who is trained by Nathan Davis in Grand Bahama.

“The tournament was great with the exception of some awful officiating,” said federation president Vincent Strachan, who served as the team’s manager. “Case in point, Keano Cox was well ahead but the referee gave him a standing eight count when he landed a punch that sent his Guyanese appointment backwards.

“He proceeded to give him two more unwarranted counts and awarded the match to home town.”

Strachan also noted that they felt that Jailen Young should have won most outstanding boxer award, having won two bouts, but instead a local boxer got it with one victory.

Despite what transpired, Strachan said it was a still good platform for the junior boxers to get a good chance for the experience.

“This team made history, being the first of any national sport, where all the athletes won gold and silver medals,” Strachan said. “They did excellent, beyond measures. Three members of the team are just beginners.”

Strachan commended the coaching staff of Carl Hield and Vincent Deleveaux for the fantastic job they both did. He predicted that the team would do very well before they left and the coaches had them competing at a high level in the tournament.

“The coaches, Carl Hield and Vincent Deleveaux are well trained,” Strachan said.

The team left Guyana Monday night for Port of Spain, Trinidad where they stayed overnight.

On Tuesday morning, Hield and the Young brothers returned to Miami, while the remaining team members went through Havana, Cuba before catching their Bahamasair flight home.

The federation, according to Strachan, is now preparing to take a team to the Sugar Bert Championships in Kissimmee, Florida in November. It’s anticipated that some 15 boxers will represent the country at the tournament.

“The final event for the year would be the Caribbean Boxing Championships in Dominica in December,” Strachan revealed. “We are also looking forward for a full team for that event. “We are building boxing in the Bahamas, the right and legal way. It is my hope that right thinking boxing coaches and officials will continue doing the right thing with regards to the development of boxing.”

Strachan further revealed that several team members are expected to travel to the USA for a six to eight-week camp in preparation for the upcoming events.

“With the financial assistance needed to get the boxers prepared and have regular competitions, the sky is not the limit,” Strachan declared. “With the talent search throughout the country the future is even brighter.”

Next year, Strachan said the federation intends to take a team to the Junior Pan American Games and these tournaments will only help to boost the morale of the boxers as they get in the much needed exposure and experience of international competition.