The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL record holder Leevan “Superman” Sands said he was delighted to be back home. He was even more thrilled to offer his expertise to a large group of athletes at the Red-Line Athletics’ Jump Clinic and their fourth annual Motivational Health & Wellness Seminar.

While the clinic took place on Friday at the original Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, the seminar was held at the National Training Agency and, according to Red-Line Athletics club’s founder and head coach Tito Moss, both events were a resounding success.

“This was the first one that we opened up to all of the clubs,” said Moss, who noted that they wanted to provide an opportunity for as many athletes to get the knowledge that was being imparted this weekend.

Sands, now in his second year as an assistant jumps coach at Florida State University in the aftermath of his long and illustrious track and field career, was joined by coaches Jason Edwards and Jamieson Pratt.

What was supposed to be a two-hour session turned into four hours because of the enthusiasm of the more than 60 participants.

At the seminar which attracted about 100 competitors and heard from an array of topics, including anti-doping and the doping control process by the Bahamas Anti-Doping Commission; NCAA, What is NIL? (Name, Image, Likeness) by Joyce Johnson; financial wellness, planning, saving by Maud Smith and mental health, mental performance training, confidence training by former American middle-distance runner Chloe Maleski.

Sands, in his address on collegiate recruitment, shared his lifetime story from competing in the 100, 200 and 400 metres before he was converted to the high, long and triple jumps.

He talked about being told by his track coach at Temple Christian that his scholarship was taken away from him to move to Florida to attend Florida Air Academy.

His journey took him to Barton County Junior College before he went on to Auburn University.

As a professional athlete, he recalled how in 2006 he was suspended for using a Vick inhaler.

With his return to competition, Sands informed the young athlete, coaches and parents in attendance, how he suffered another big blow when he fractured his knee at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, but he overcame that obstacle as well and bounced back.

Supported by his mother, Elaine Sands, who encouraged the parents to always follow the progress of their children and to give them all the support they needed, Sands could not have accomplished what he did without her and his deceased father Leevan ‘Dargon’ Sands.

The married father of four boys said he’s just getting started with his new role as a collegiate coach, but he advised the student-athletes on some important things they need to consider if they are interested in securing an athletic scholarship to attend a division one school or even getting started like he did in junior college.

Sands, who was also accompanied by his sister, former Miss Earth Bahamas Vandia Sands, said he enjoyed his time spent here and he would definitely like to return to do more clinics in the future.

“I didn’t expect all of these kids to show up. I noticed that a lot of our kids are hungry and as a Bahamian coach, I don’t see why I can’t come back and share my knowledge with these kids,” he stated.

“I was very impressed with how receptive they were in everything I had to say. I thought they might have forgotten Superman, but they stayed to the last minute. They didn’t want me to leave.”

As for the seminar, Sands said it was one of the most electrifying addresses he’s ever given.

“I always get kind of nervous when people ask me about stuff like this, but I realised that I have things to share. I have a lot of experiences that I need to share. I just need to get more comfortable being in an environment like this, said Sands, who holds the national record at 57-feet, 8 1/2-inches or 17.59 metres.

“Coaching is fine, but anytime someone asks me to speak, it’s nerve-racking. But the good thing is nobody was sleeping.”

The good thing about the session is the fact that Sands said he remembered being in their shoes trying to figure things out and going through the process of getting into school and eventually he settled on Auburn University where he felt comfortable under the tutelage of Bahamian assistant coach Henry Rolle.

Looking back at the decisions that he made, Sands was asked if he had to do it all again, what would he do differently?

“I think my career was full of excitement and joy with my wife, children and family,” Sands said.

“Everything happened the way it should have happened, even with the suspension and the injuries and now I am able to better coach athletes through all of the obstacles that they face.”

Although he’s still jumping every now and again with his athletes to stay in shape, Sands said having retired from competition, at the age of 42, he’s just enjoying the benefits of his career.

One that spans more than three decades and earned him a bronze medal at the Olympics, World Championship and Commonwealth Games as well as a silver at the Pan American Games, among others to make him the “greatest Bahamian triple jumper ever.”

Also in attendance was Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ president Drumeco Archer, who made the point that while all athletes will not end up going to school, they should all look at a different skill course in the event that they don’t get an athletic scholarship to a tertiary institution.

He encouraged the audience to think about pivoting, or moving, shifting, changing and adapting because “all of us will not be Olympians.

“So, my job is not necessarily to ensure that you become Olympians, my job is to ensure that you become wholesome, productive young people.”

Through events such as this done by Red-Line Athletics in “Building Holistic Champions,” Archer said athletes should take a page out of Sands’ book when he was a sprinter before he realised that he was one of the world’s greatest triple jumpers. “So, I want this exercise to be an exercise of reflection for you, an exercise of discovering who you are,” said Archer, a former sprinter and lawyer by profession. “So, I want you to keep that in context because, at the end of the day, this country still needs you.”

He congratulated Red-Line for having the initiative to provide this forum to discover the fundamental things of life that the athletes have to endure in the real world outside of just competing on the track.