By TENAJH SWEETING
Tribune Sports Reporter
tsweeting@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) is set to host the combined Age Group Trials and Kids Athletics Championships starting today at 5pm. The three-day meet will run from Thursday to Saturday at the original Thomas A Robinson stadium.
The combined hosting of the events will feature the under 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 divisions.
Athletes of the under 13 and 15 divisions will be vying to qualify for a spot on the eight-member age group team expected to compete at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Championships in July.
Mike Sands, president of the NACAC, talked about the importance of the kids’ athletics programme in The Bahamas. “Kids Athletics is the foundation to the success of any programme, when you build your foundation it also is designed to inspire the next generation of athletes to continue on,” Sands said.
Sands added that NACAC lends its full support to the event as athletes look to qualify for the age group championships slated for July 15-16 in the Dominican Republic. “A lot of athletes in our area got their international debut through the age group championships.
“The names that come to my mind are Debbie Ferguson, Kim Collins and Veronica Campbell, those are just a few names that started and were inspired from age group [championships] to continue on,” NACAC president said.
For the NACAC age group qualifiers, two girls and boys will be selected from the under 13 and 15 divisions.
Athletes of the under 13 division will compete in a pentathlon and the under 15 division will compete in seven events for the heptathlon.
The under 13 girls will compete in the 60 metre race, high jump, long jump, ball throw and 800m.
Meanwhile, the age group combined events for the under 13 boys will include the 60m, high jump, long jump, ball throw and 1000m.
Additionally, the under 15 girls will compete in the 60m hurdles, 80m, high jump, long jump, ball throw, shot put, and 1000m.
However, the boys will take on the 80m hurdles, 80m, high jump, long jump, ball throw, shot put and 1200m.
The athletes will be given the opportunity to participate for their clubs, schools or unattached. With the competitors coming from the various track clubs in New Providence, Grand Bahama and other Family Islands, expectations are high for the level of competition on display at this weekend’s three-day meet.
BAAA President Drumeco Archer talked about the anticipation surrounding the combined event.
“It is always fun to see them and it amazes you when you see the quality of athletes. We seem to produce athletes in every sporting discipline at the highest level for such a small country,” Archer said.
He said that the association acknowledges that there are not enough meets at the age group level so they wanted to create a championship event for them to be given the focus.
He added that parents come to track meets to watch their kids perform, therefore, he believes this is the one opportunity where you will have the full engagement of the track community.
“These group championships is an important event for us, it is a showcase for one of the BAAAs assets of the federation. We hope to grow this area of our sport,” Archer said.
The age group trials will take place today at 5pm and on Friday starting at 12:30pm.
For persons interested in watching the under 7 through 15 athletes compete and qualify for the age group championships, the entry fee is $15.
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