The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

EDUKARTING Bahamas completed another edition in its series of summer camps, aimed at bringing greater awareness to motorsport and teaching life skills through “stealth education.”

The Edukarting Summer Kart Club recently concluded two independent sessions at CI Gibson High School campus.

As it continues the task of developing motorsport in the Bahamas at the grassroots level, Edukarting tutor Craig Camilleri said the programme has experienced great growth in just a few short years.

“People come from various backgrounds in the Bahamas and what we want to teach them is life skills. It’s not all about the racing. If you invite the kids to do a business course, they’re not really interested, but if you tell them it’s a motorsport course, the reaction is different and they might want to come along all the time. We don’t just teach them about racing, we teach them about budgeting, art and design and life skills they can take on into the future,” Camilleri said. “We have students from Doris Johnson that were apart of our very first course. We had feedback from their teachers and their grades jumped, in some cases from an F to a B grade. It instils discipline, work ethic and teamwork and the results we get year after year are fabulous.”

Edukarting features one week programmes taught by industry professionals to encourage a love of motorsport, team building and an introduction to associated disciplines with future marketable skills.

The camp is limited to 30 students per week, between 13-17 years of age and in grades 10-12, at a cost of $25 per student.

The Edukarting initiative was introduced as a summer camp into public schools in 2013 and four of the schools with automotive programmes continued as an after school kart club, hosted at Doris Johnson Senior High.

Two of those students from the after-school also participated in the summer camps.

Selena Curling, an 11th grade student, emerged as a team leader.

“The week was rough but we came together as a team but we came together and worked things out. When we spoke to the sponsors it helped me with public speaking. On the track we learned the ins and outs of the cars. You have to be focused and be ready to speed up and slow down at different points,” she said. “I see it as a hobby and if I could take it further than that. I learned how to coordinate the team and how to make sure everything gets done.”

Donovan Hughes, a 12th grader, said the programme helps to foster his interest in auto mechanics and will help with a future in racing.

“I like cars. With this, I got a better idea of control dealing with the smaller cars. I do auto-mechanics, I work with my dad on cars and driving the cars out here this week was a lot of fun. It allows you to free your mind and it gives you a thrill,” he said. “I picked up a lot, getting along with friends, learning how to go on an interview, but really a future in racing. I have thought about it. Just trying to get more time into it. I want to go straight from karting into racing cars.”

David McLaughlin, chairman of the Bahamas Speed Week Revival, was recently named a director of the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body and is also the managing director for Karting Bahamas.

“We bring them along for a week’s training, we teach them how to drive them, we teach them how to maintain them, we teach them how to form teams so they have to work together. At the end of the programme they have to race karts, and it’s quite competitive. They have to form a virtual budget and they have to pitch to sponsors. They have to design logos and they have to do many things that will carry them over in life,” McLaughlin said.

“We are not looking for the NASCAR or Formula One champion, we are looking to develop a social programme that will give the kids the ammunition to move forward and be successful. We have seen the kids’ grades improve, we have seen above proportion expectation made prefects and some of the kids from the first year have come back to train the kids in the second year. They are taking on responsibility and authority to do that.”

McLaughlin has had a long and storied involvement with auto-racing, spanning more than three decades. Through his company FORCE he established the historic Formula One Series in 1986, which was later officially recognised by the FIA. He also created the FORCE Classic Grand Prix Series with rounds in nine European countries.

He said the programme aims to bring greater exposure for young Bahamians to a sport which presents new opportunities through “stealth education.”

“One of the things Minister Fitzgerald has been particularly keen on is that we track the kids, we track their progress in school. An above average number of them have gone on to be prefects because there are benefits in giving them something to aspire to. A lot of it is giving them something to be excited about, learning that they can do new things to really raise yourself and realise the potential they have.”