The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games all set for July 19 to August 3 in Barranquilla, Colombia, the Bahamas Olympic Committee has yet to name the team that will represent the Bahamas.

BOC president Rommel Knowles said they are still in the process of completing the list. But while they wait, some of the track and field athletes are irate that they are not included.

In response to their complaints, Knowles said they had a long and a short list that they received from the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations and they decided to make the final decision based on what they received.

"Track and field doesn't have any qualifying standards, but the BAAA did post some standards that they advised them could only be used as the minimum standards.

"The Bahamas is under a quota, so we couldn't let track and field set a standard and you have these standards and 25 athletes qualify and we only have 10 places."

Given the list that they received, Knowles said they worked with the list so that they met their quota.

"There seems to be a fraction within the BAAA who seem to criticise every decision that they make," Knowles said. "We will not get caught up in their dispute because we have a bigger picture to deal with and that is all sports in the Bahamas that fall under our preview."

Knowles said all recommendations made start with the federation and then they work on those recommendations in completing their final list of team selection.

Track and field is expected to be joined by swimming, boxing, tennis, judo, fencing, sailing, men's basketball and men's softball.

The chef de mission for the team is Robert Butler and Cora Hepburn will be the deputy chef de mission and team manager.

When contacted, BAAA President Rosamunde Carey said the final decision on the team selection rests with the BOC.

"We sent them our list of recommendation and they would have made the team selection," she said. "The BAAA only submitted the list of athletes to be recommended.

"We submitted a long list that included all of our potential athletes, but we understand that there was a short list submitted. I have not seen that list. I have asked for them to submit it to me, but I haven't seen it."

One of the athletes who was wishing to make the team is female national triple jump record holder Tamara Myers. She has indicated that she, along with a few athletes who were preparing to go to the games, have been told that they are not included in the list.

Speaking on behalf of some of the athletes who feel that they have been left off the team, Myers said she just wants some answers.

"We just want the BAAA and the BOC to explain how the team has been selected," she pointed out. "We haven't been given a clear understanding on what list was submitted to the BOC and what standards did they go off and, if they did, what standards they did use to determine the team selection.

"We just need to know how the team was selected and what was the criteria used in selecting the team, if they didn't go by any standards and why did they select the athletes that they selected."

Myers said she and the rest of the potential athletes just need the clarification, especially if the selection of the team is final.