The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT IS not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in local sports, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

THE general elections have come and gone and now it’s time for the Free National Movement to put their plan in action for their five years in office. 

The sports world is waiting with anticipation on the announcement of the new Minister of Sports and or whether or not any other portfolio will be added. 

The FNM, in its 2017 Manifesto, also revealed its plans for sports, which include the following:

• Complete the ‘Ten Year Sports Infrastructure Plan’ to construct gyms and relevant athletic facilities throughout the Bahamas, thereby equalising opportunities for excellence for athletics on all islands.

• Institute a Sports Development Foundation.

• Complete the development of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre in accordance with the master plan.

• Continue the advancement of a state-of-the-art National Sports Academy.

• Encourage local participation and international competiveness in an increasing number of sporting disciplines.

While these are some bold initiatives, I hope that the new minister will also look at a couple of other things that are on the agenda for sports in the country, including the following:

• Subvention for athletes

There’s been some suggestions that athletes on subvention from the government have either had their monthly stipend stopped, cancelled or reduced for one reason or the other.

However, the complete list of who is on and who is not on has been produced and just recently our three Olympic swimmers – Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Vereance Burrows and Joanna Evans – have voiced their displeasure, much to the delight of athletes in other sports who have been affected, but have declined to make any comments.

I think a full and proper review of the programme, which was originally implemented to assist athletes with their training, should be commenced.

• Dialogue on National

Lottery

When the Progressive Liberty Party began consultation for the regulation and taxation of web shop gaming, the topic of the establishment of a national lottery was also to be included in the discussion.

However, by the time it got to the public in a referendum form, the national lottery was not included.

Maybe, it’s time for further discussion to take place on the issue as a national lottery was designed to help with the development of sports and the implementation of the national programmes, including the subvention of athletes.

• Incentives for Coaches

After he was elected as the new president of the coaches’ association for track and field, Shaun Miller said he intends to seek the assistance for coaches to be compensated for their efforts.

Maybe, it’s time for a programme to be introduced for all coaches, not just track and field, but in other sports like swimming, tennis, boxing, bodybuilding, just to name a few, where we’ve seen tremendous success at the international level.

The coaches could be enumerated for their efforts, based on the performances of their athletes as they compete in various events. A grading system could be implemented to compensate the coaches for their contributions to their athletes’ successes or those of our national team sports.

• Sporting facilities

When three particular schools were built – Doris Johnson, CV Bethel and Anatol Rodgers – one of the things that government paid to concentrate on were the spaces left unattended.

Those schools sit in strategic locations, but could you image what could be accomplished if more attention was placed on developing the green spaces into proper track facilities for training.

One of the things is that it could reduce the amount of traffic that takes place at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium during training sessions and, at the same time, more emphasis could be placed on redeveloping community programmes as they were in the past.

Those are just some things to consider as we look ahead to the next five years in government by the FNM, along with those they have mentioned above in their manifesto.

THE WEEK

AHEAD

On Saturday, the Ambassadors Track Club will once again honour their long-standing coach and president Fritz Grant with their annual Invitational at the TAR Stadium.

Grant, a former national team sprinter, is one of those quiet unassuming coaches who has worked tirelessly in preparing a number of local athletes for international competition.

Too many times, a lot of the attention is placed on the coaches who work with the athletes when they compete at the collegiate or the senior level, but very seldom is any recognition given to those who help them at their developmental stages.

Grant is certainly one of those coaches and I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate him as the ambassadors honour him for the 10th straight year in organising the meet.

FIBA

WORLD CUP

The stage is set and the Bahamas has drawn to play out of Group D in the Americas Qualifier for the FIBA World Cup 2019 against the US Virgin Islands, Canada and the Dominican Republic.

Bahamas Basketball Federation first vice president Mario Bowleg said the task is now trying to put together at least two or three national teams to get ready for their first home-and-away series against Canada on November 24 in Canada.

At present, the coaching staff is headed by Bowleg, assisted by Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, Norris Bain and Wayde Watson.

While it’s a competent group of local coaches, the tournament calls for a higher level of competition and once gain, it would be good to see the federation engaging some international coach or coaches to assist in the programme.

Not taking anything away from the quartet mentioned, but we’re looking at the possibility of having players like NBA rookie guard Buddy Hield, those who are playing overseas and the return of NBA prospect DeAndre Ayton at some point in the mix.

It’s time to take the national programme to a higher level.