The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SPORTSCASTER Gerrino Saunders, who has thrown his hat into the political arena as the Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) candidate for St Barnabas in the upcoming general election, said he is tired of the cry for sports development in the country.

Mr Saunders, a former reporter at The Tribune and now the sports editor at the Jones Communication Network, said: “It’s (sports development) a far cry from where it should be. So the only way to effect change is to get in there and then I can be able to make some policy changes. Hopefully if the DNA wins, they will allow me to focus on youth, education and sports.

“If the youths are there, we can educate them and once they are educated, they can take advantage of all of the sporting opportunities that are available in addition to obtaining the athletic scholarships in the progress.”

Mr Saunders, 44, was ratified on Monday for the new seat of St Barnabas after he started campaigning in Englerston where he lives.

“Once they introduced the St Barnabas constituency, they kind of threw all of the parties into a mix there,” Mr Saunders said. “We had Stephanie Lightbourne (who) was working in the area, but she had taken a break for a while, so I picked it up.

“But she returned over the last few months and because she had already put in a lot of work, we decided to let her run and I will get St Barnabas, which still has a lot of people that I was campaigning with in Englerston.

“I still have a lot of family members and friends that live and work in the St Barnabas constituency. On the walkabouts, we are well received and people are falling in love with the DNA’s plans how we intent to get the young people of the streets.”

Through his job, Mr Saunders said he has been able to monitor the local sporting scene and noticed the inefficiency that exists. He explained how he hopes to make a difference if he is elected as the member of Parliament.

“Once we get the kids into schools on scholarships, we are going to have a problem where we funnel them into their professional careers and we can make wealthy Bahamians out of them, just for playing sports,” he said.

As one of the youngest members vying for the DNA, Mr Saunders said he is not fully set up with his headquarters. He intends to utilise the building on the corner of Blue Hill Road and Cordeaux Avenue, just opposite the National Insurance Board.

During his acceptance speech at his ratification on Monday, Mr Saunders said the party would be looking at improving the status of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

“We believe that the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is under achieving with a large part of its portfolio. Seemingly taken over by the Ministry of Tourism,” he said.

“We understand the role that the Ministry of Tourism plays, but these are sporting events and they should be spearheaded by the Ministry of Sports. I’m not quite sure why that is happening, but we will address that.”

Additionally, Mr Saunders said he would like to see more power disseminated to the position of the director of sports and other officials in carrying out their designated duties to effect the necessary changes in the ministry.

“We will also require more from the various sporting federations,” he said. “A number of the federations are doing quite well. I don’t want to name any, but there are others struggling.

“While we will increase the funding for the federations, we will require more of them and will be specific in what is required of them. Once we set our policies, we would want them to work along with us in achieving our goals.”

In reference to the University of the Bahamas, Mr Saunders said the DNA would increase the funding already allocated to the institution for sports development and the requirement of athletes with scholarships.

“We will be looking at using the millions that the government is wasting on our young athletes in sports development,” he said.

While he lauded the Urban Games that will take place on Saturday at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, Mr Saunders said the DNA would like to see a greater trust placed on the inner city with more activities.

Mr Saunders said the party would immediately name sailing and track and field as the dual national sports with cricket getting an honourable mention because it’s not as nationally played as the other two.

At the high school level, Mr Saunders said the party wants to upgrade the competition by revamping the current programme and introducing properly certified trained coaches with weightlifting programmes and trainers to assist in their development.

And with the night leagues in the majority of the sports struggling for survival, Mr Saunders said the party would work on creating a semi-professional league for basketball, where businesses can buy the teams, and also introduce a national track and field circuit around the various islands where the athletes can be paid for their participation.

Mr Saunders is a former track athlete, who also played basketball in his prime.