The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH only three teams entered, coach Laszo ‘Lotty’ Borbely said it is just a matter of how well Team Bahamas performs to determine what colour medal they will come back home with from the Carifta 2013 Waterloo Polo 15-And-Under competition in Kingston, Jamaica, this weekend.

Borbely, assisted by Jonathan Albury with Brenda Wert as chaperone, will be taking a 10-member team on the Bahamasair charter flight with the swimming team to the games on Thursday.

The team members - Stearlin Lewis, Aaron Carey, Joel Albury, Marcel Ingraham, Saequan Miller, Nathan Werth, Seth Rollins, Joshua Knowles, Loron Bain and Kadin Coakley - were treated to a send-off reception by the Royal Bank of Canada at the bank’s headquarters on East Hill Street Tuesday night.

“I would like to go and win a medal this time. I’m not sure what colour, but the shinier the better,” coach Borbely said. “I’m sure that we will win a medal this time.”

With only three teams entered, Team Bahamas will have their hands full with Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. But they have a chance to win a game, which eluded Team Bahamas a year ago.

“We will have two games a day, so it’s going to be hard for us,” coach Borbely said. “The physical preparation has gone very well because they swum with the swimmers and they had some competition against an international team. So the team is faster and more fitter than ever before. We practiced a lot of ball-handling skills and forward movement. So our play should be higher than ever before.”

Team Bahamas is slated to play Trinidad & Tobago in the first game 1pm Friday. Then they are scheduled to play host Jamaica in the evening.

Team Bahamas will face the same two teams again to determine their final positions and a chance to win one of the three medals.

Two members of Team Bahamas, returning for another appearance in the competition, are excited about their chances this time around.

“I think this is a strong team. We are progressing very fast and we should do very well,” said 14-year-old Aaron Carey, who is making his second trip. “I expect us to win the gold. I know we can do better than we did in the past.”

Saequan Miller, a 13-year-old, added: “Our coach has been training us for a long time, so I think we’re going to come out on top. Our team is much stronger than the last time. We did a lot more swimming than we did the last time, so we are looking a lot better this year.”

For Kadin Coakley, it’s his first appearance, but he’s just as excited as those who are returning.

“I’m excited and I’m also confident and determined to do my best to help my team as much as possible to defend and not the other teams score on us,” said the 14-year-old defender. “I think we will do very well.”