The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a deposit of $100,000 into the account of the Local Organising Committee, Scotiabank became a gold elite sponsor of the 50th CARIFTA Games.

The investment was made yesterday in front of the bank’s main branch in Rawson Square on Bay Street.

Roger Archer, the vice president and district head of the bank, expressed their delight in becoming a sponsor of the games, scheduled for April 7-11 at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium during the country’s celebrations of its 50th Independence.

Archer, accompanied by a host of their management team from their corporate head office, said the region is the birthplace of some of the best athletes and so many of the regional stars who have gotten their birth to becoming world champions.

Having been established in the Caribbean for over 130 years, the last 65 of which they were right here in the Bahamas, Archer said they have always been a part of the fabric of athletics in the Bahamas and they will continue to support the expansion of sports within the Caribbean.

“We do this because we believe in the unifying, restorative and transformational power of sports and its ability to change lives for the better,” Archer said.

“Track and field creates a future for our athletes and their families.

“Our athletes place our country on the world stage and has shown that as a region, we are powerful together.”

In supporting the athletes in the region and their support in gaining their prominence on the world stage, they are proud to present their gold elite sponsorship of the 2023 CARIFTA Games with their donation of $100,000 in cash to the LOC.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg said they are so delighted that Scotiabank is easing the pressure of the Bahamas Government spending so much money by making their generous donation to the LOC.

“CARIFTA is the birthplace of some of the greatest athletes that came out of the region, the Americas and the Caribbean,” Bowleg said.

“And so, with you having branches in the Caribbean region and in the Americas, the brand of Scotiabank will be well accepted and seen at the CARIFTA Games and there is no better place to have it than at the 50th CARIFTA Games.”

LOC chairman Lynden Maycock welcomed on board Scotiabank, who have been integrated into numerous sporting events in the Bahamas, including the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National High Schools Track and Field Championships.

“Their support of the games shows their shared belief that the development of our youth is the security of our future,” Maycock stressed.

“The CARIFTA Games is a platform for young athletes throughout the Caribbean and the Americas that can be seen as their development as future track and field athletes.”

Mike Sands, president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC), under whose jurisdiction the games fall under, said when BAAA president Drumeco Archer, along with Bowleg made their presentation last year at the games in Jamaica, they awarded to the Bahamas on the basis that they felt very confident that the BAAA could secure the sponsorship to host the games.

“Scotiabank is no stranger to sponsoring sporting events, particularly track and field,” said Sands, who served previously as president of the BAAA when Scotiabank sponsored the National High School Championships.

“It’s that kind of corporate support that Scotiabank has shown over the years, so it’s indeed a pleasure of mine to say on behalf of NACAC, thank you.

“I’m sure your long dollars will go a long way and we look forward to your continued support in events to come.”

Drumeco Archer said that while they are appreciative of their support of the LOC, he said it’s his hope that the dollars will continue to roll on and support the BAAA in their various activities that will follow after the games. “You have made a clarion call, not only to the banking industry, but to the entire corporate industry that we need to do more and to give more to our sports and to our young people,” he said. “This message could not have been louder when Scotiabank would have taken on the commercial bank partnership relationship with the local organising committee and Scotiabank is named as the only Canadian bank that will have regional presence as well as local presence for any bank in Canada.”

Archer thanked Scotiabank for their generosity, not just to the BAAA, but by extension NACAC and World Athletics, the governing body for the sports in the world.