The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Speed Capital is bringing its international championships to The Bahamas for the first time. The three-day event is set to take place starting at 6pm on Friday and will continue until Sunday, June 19 at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

The championships will host 600 athletes from eight different countries including The Bahamas. Athletes will commute here from Grenada, Aruba, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Canada, United States of America, and Barbados. Competitors will range from ages 5-18 at this weekend’s inaugural meet.

Luke Robinson, chief executive officer of Speed Capital, talked about why The Bahamas was chosen at the destination for the International Championships.

“For us it was reciprocal. The Bahamian cohort of athletes that has been actively coming to our events in Florida has surpassed roughly about 300, so when we were looking at creating an international event, naturally it was home for us to come back to The Bahamas and show the same level of support that they have shown us in the States,” Robinson said.

He added that he also wanted to introduce an experience to The Bahamas that is second to none in terms of the technology that they plan to use at this weekend’s three-day international championships.

With 600 athletes prepared to compete and 225 of them coming from the USA, it was imperative for Speed Capital to introduce technology that makes the track meet go quicker and more efficiently.

Derrick Greene, director of operations for Speed Capital, talked about the technology that will be utilised June 16-18 to eliminate the hold ups at the track meet.

“We have scanners, computers, we have technology. So what we did was take that out of the hands of the people and put it in the hands of our technology,” Greene said.

The scanners will allow for multiple athletes to be checked into their respective races and events in a shorter time frame.

“I can scan 20 girls for a 400 metre event in 51 seconds I can check them in have them lined up in their heats in 51 seconds [and] that's great,” he said.

Greene said the technology works alongside the timers, not against it, therefore, if a meet is too far ahead of schedule they can slow it down or if a meet is running behind schedule, there are technological measures that can ensure that the event gets back on track or ahead of it.

“I can scan a person or heat and if somebody is missing or the heat is low I will be able to change the heat immediately – hit a button, upload it to the timer, the timer sees the heat change [and] lane change automatically in the system [and] within a couple seconds that's going down the track,” he said.

The meet will also see the introduction of a real-time check in system which allows coaches to see the status of athletes as it changes in terms of them being checked in for races in a timely fashion.

Robinson added that these technological advancements have allowed them to wrap up meets with more than 1,000 plus participants by 3pm.

The inaugural meet is supported by The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) and National Sports Authority (NSA).

Moses Johnson, general manager of the National Sports Authority (NSA), said he does not believe the Speed Capital International Championships will be a one-time event.

“We look for a multi-year partnership that we can bring these type of activities to the shore of paradise as we partner with the NSA and BAAAs for this event – especially for kids 5-15, that’s where you find the next Stevie Gardiners and Shaunae Miller-Uibos,” Johnson said.

Robinson said Speed Capital is 100% committed to multi-year events in The Bahamas and it is not a one and done.

“The natural matriculation process is going to take place year after year we will get bigger and we will get better and continue to improve . . . the best thing we can hope to look for is healthy participation, the kids having a great time and from there we can continue our partnership with NSA and the BAAAs,” the CEO added.

The various local and international athletes will compete in all events except the pole vault this weekend.

Interested individuals can pay a fee of $20 per day for adults – children five and below are free. The event starts at 6pm tomorrow, 9.30am on Saturday, and noon on Sunday.