The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a track career that enabled her to compete at the Olympic Games over and done with, former sprinter Philippa Arnett-Willie is lending her expertise to the sport as a commentator.

While she has distinguished herself locally, her new found talent was noticed and now she has been invited to serve as a commentator at the North America, Central American and Caribbean Under-18 and Under-23 Athletics Championships in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.

During the championships scheduled for July 5-7, Arnett-Willie will get a chance to highlight the performances of the Bahamas’ 19-member team as they compete at the Querétaro 2000 INDEREQ Stadium as a co-host to Kareem Streete-Thompson, the legendary long jumper from the Cayman Islands.

“It was a surprise for the offer and I’m very excited that the opportunity came,” Arnett-Willie said. “This is my first time that I will be announcing internationally.”

Arnett-Willie’s introduction to commentary came about five years ago when the Star Trackers Club, headed by David and Laura Charlton, hosted a seminar at their annual track and field meet that was conducted by Michael Jules from Barbados.

She took the course along with newly elected Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations president Drumeco Archer and the rest was history.

“It was something that I love,” said Arnett-Willie, who along with Archer bellowed their voices at the various local meets as well as the 47th edition of the CARIFTA Games hosted here in 2018.

“So I offered myself to all of the clubs and any meets that were hosted here at the stadium and it has brought me to this.”

A trust officer now at Bluefield Trust (Bahamas) Limited, Arnett-Willie represented the Bahamas as a sprinter from the CARIFTA Games to the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2005 World Championships. However, she didn’t compete in an individual event in the latter two events.

She admits that while she only did the track aspects in athletics, she found herself studying the dynamics of the field events so that she can be well-versed in her commentary whenever the opportunity presents itself for her to hold the microphone.

“I did participate in the long jump, but never at the professional level or at the elite level,” she reflected. “I did do the sprints, so this opportunity through announcing, even through practicing or just performing at the meets here, has given me the opportunity to learn the disciplines, learn implements, learn the tactics, learn the rules, even learn what the coaches are doing on the side.”

During the CARIFTA Games here when Streete-Thompson served as a part of the Flow TV commentary team, Arnett-Willie said they began conversating.

She noted that she had applied to serve on the team for this year’s CARIFTA Games in Kingston, Jamaica, but the spots were already filled. A couple weeks ago, she said Streete-Thompson contacted her and last week she got the invite from NACAC president Victor Lopez, one that she felt was phenomenal.

“I was very surprised, but it’s one that I will never forget,” she pointed out. “Definitely, I will never forget where my humble beginnings were. This was practice grounds all the time for us.”

Arnett-Willie said she wants to advise the members of Team Bahamas that she will be looking forward to highlighting whether they feel they deserve the recognition or not.

And while this is her international debut, Arnett-Willie said she hopes it will lead her all the way to her return to the Olympic Games in the future.

Look out for Arnett-Willie on her Instagram account “I am medallion greatness” and twitter account “I am Bahamian.”

“This is a door that is opened. I’m going to walk through it and just take it one day at a time,” she summed up.