The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was like a sigh of relief for operators of the gyms and fitness centres when their doors opened Monday morning after Prime Minister Hubert Minnis lifted more restrictions on the economy heading into the Christmas season.

But Dr Kent Bazard, owner/operator of Empire Fitness, said their newly formed Bahamas Gym Owners and Personal Trainers Association (BGOPT) will have a long way to go to get back to some type of normalcy as they recover from the financial woes they experienced.

“We’re happy to be back. We have a deep hole to dig ourselves out of,” Bazard said. “But we’re happy to be back. I just hope that we don’t return to full lockdowns.

“A lot of big cities around the world are not doing total lockdowns where they are closing the country. What they do is they monitor occupancy and instead of going to full lockdowns, they do for 20 percent for non-essential occupancies and 30 percent for essential businesses.”

Bazard said if the Competent Authority can come out with a similar type scale system, they can avoid closing the country and thereby, they can manage the economy much better.

As for his counterparts in the industry, Bazard said they have suffered a huge blow and the numbers in terms of their losses are astronomical.

“The numbers are in the six-figure range,” he said. “That’s a very intimidating number to look at.”

In their recovery process, Bazard said they have to make their financial arrangements with the banks or their landlords, but the key moving forward is to be able to operate their businesses. “So we are hoping that the government doesn’t look at total lockdowns as the way to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” he said.

“We have to take a different approach where we can target those persons who are at risk and based on the data, the persons who are more at risk are confined.”

The flip side of the negative aspect of the closure of the gyms has been the loss of the public’s trust into the safety of the environment because of some of the negative connotations placed on the industry due to the closure.

“Persons are concerned. There’s a lot of information, giving a lot of different points of view,” Bazard said. “We have taken a blow because we were the first industry to be demonised about spreading the virus all over the world. “But that is not so and the data is coming out to verify that. But the damage has already been done and hopefully with time, we can change all of that with more information coming out.”

To the general public, Bazard assured them that the gym operators are doing all they can to ensure the safety of their patrons as they practice a safe environment.

“If you are unsure, you can ask your gym owner or manager about the steps and protocols they are taking,” he stated. “Generally speaking, most of the general owners in the Bahamas are running a safe, clean environment.”

Although it was just day one, Bazard said he was encouraged by the crowd of patrons who showed up to resume their training.

However, he anticipates that it will probably take a couple of days to realise the full effect of their participation.

“This is usually the slow period because of junkanoo and the other social events going on,” he pointed out. “But since a lot of those events are not taking place this year and even family gatherings are reduced or downscaled, perhaps more people will come to the gym in December.

“December sort of catapults the month of January, so hopefully it will carry over. But we are happy to be open and we hope that we can start a rapport with the government so that we can continue to operate as a normal business.”

The BGOA has been endorsed by the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, headed by Joel Stubbs, in addition to the Bahamas Martial Arts Federation and the Bahamas Gymnastics Federation, as members.

Other members of the BGOA are Sofia Whitehead, owner of Club One Fitness Centre; Tangerine Curry- Dinnick, owner of Evolve Functional Fitness; Regina Smith, owner of Energy Fitness; Lorraine LaFleur, owner of Gainz 4 Life Fitness; Natasha Brown, owner of Downtown Core Fitness; Nonny Price, owner of Just Dance; Kenny Green, owner of Better Bodies Health and Fitness; Jimmy Mackey, owner of MacFit 360; Vaklev Bastian, owner of New Body Resurrection Fitness; Charles Johnson, owner of Da Box Fitness; Raphael and Jennifer Whylly, owners of GB Fitness; Demeko Nesbitt, owner of Fitness Connection; Wellington Sears, of Iron Man Gym; Matson Delancy, owner of Da Dungeon Fitness; Trevor Ramsey, owner of Nassau Nastics and Nardo Dean, owner of Bodyonix and project manager for the BBFF