The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) basketball playoffs are in full swing but, according to reports, the impending track and field meet will be shelved this time around.

The Tribune Sports section initially reported that the three-day meet could be potentially postponed or delayed due to conflicting dates with the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA).

The meet was first scheduled for February 14-16 at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium and then switched to March 6-8.

However, according to multiple sources, the new date was disapproved due to it being one week before the CARIFTA Trials scheduled for March 15-17.

Officials, coaches and parents weighed in on the matter.

Drumeco Archer, president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), spoke on the cancellation of the 2024 BAISS track and field meet.

“I don’t speak for the BAISS conference, I don’t have the standing to do so but what I can say from the BAAA side, we have and will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that we can facilitate the move towards a successful event."

"Of course that takes some planning and some compromising and we are prepared to do that. We don’t set the calendar, it is a collaborative effort in that exercise and that began in September of last year where stakeholders came together and mapped out a calendar that we thought to be a calendar that we can all live with. I think that we are at an impasse but it’s not an impossibility to be able to find good resolve,” the BAAA president said.

The BAISS track and field meet is one of the top meets during the season fueled by the long-standing rivalry between top athletic schools St Augustine’s College and Queen’s College.

The marquee athletics event brings out scores of parents and alumni mesh- ing as one for the sake of school pride.

The Big Red Machine hauled away their third consecutive BAISS track and field championship in 2023, making it their fifth win of the last eight meets.

Meanwhile, QC dethroned the defending champions in 2015 and took bragging rights again in 2016 and also won in 2019.

Everette Fraser, head coach of the Comets, said despite the change of the prior date given, the Comet Nation is ready to go and the BAISS meet would give athletes another chance to qualify for the 51st CARIFTA Games.

“QC is willing to do BAISS with the date that they have from March 6-8. We are willing to do it and we do not have a problem. I know they had an earlier date but we couldn’t do it due to midterms so they changed it to March 6-8 and that is what we were willing to do.

“In the past, Nationals were sometimes right before the CARIFTA Trials so we are supposed to be used to this by now. It might be too close but we had this situation before and I don’t know what is the difference between now and then,” Fraser said.

He expressed that it would be disappointing for BAISS to be cancelled as it is one of the biggest track and field meets of the year.

“BAISS would give athletes another opportunity to qualify for CARIFTA and because of the fierce competition at BAISS, that would bring out the best in the kids.

“I would be very disappointed if BAISS was cancelled and this is the biggest meet of the year. There is no way we should cancel it for no one,” he said.

Additionally, reports indicated that some schools were reluctant to have their top athletes compete with the CARIFTA Trials just around the corner due to risk of injury.

The cancellation not only affects the various private schools involved but also the parents who were also looking forward to the competitive event.

Latina Rolle, who is the parent of a Queen’s College student, was disappointed in the latest revelation.

“We need to stop the cancellation culture when it comes to kids. They are already at a deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You have kids that have trained year round just to compete to represent their school for either bragging rights or just to wear their school colours with pride.

“If we were to call a BAISS competition on Christmas Day, you would have a sold out crowd. This is the energy this competition brings so I say to the organisers, get it together,” Rolle said.

Echoing her sentiments were Cherelle Cartwright, a parent of a student at Windsor School who felt the decision was not the best.

“I do not understand the rationale. I think they have been making some questionable calls from last year. BAISS still provides the chance for athletes to qualify, whereas if you decide you are gonna cancel BAISS and just have the CARIFTA Trials, it is a hit or miss there.

“They do not have that extra opportunity to be able to qualify for the team.

“I do not get it and it makes no sense. I am dumbfounded, that is the biggest meet and that is where they make money and nothing compares to BAISS,” Cartwright said.

Attempts to reach BAISS president Perry Cunnigham were unsuccessful.

The BAISS track and field meet was last cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.