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| BBFF preparing for novice championships |
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Kelsie Johnson
Guardian Sports Reporter kelsie@nasguard.com
Published: May 11, 2012
Attracting young men to the sport of bodybuilding, in the past, used to be an easy task for executive members of the local governing body for bodybuilding and fitness. Now, president of the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (BBFF) Danny Sumner is making an appeal to them, hoping more will come forward. Sumner is hoping to see an increase in the numbers at this year’s novice championships, especially since a new category has been added to the annual event, scheduled for the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Shirley Street, on May 27. Male participants can choose to compete in either bodybuilding or fitness. In the past, only bodybuilding was offered to men while the women competed in fitness, bodybuilding and the swimsuit division. Sumner believes that a number of participants will turn to body fitness, especially high school boys. “We are hoping to have new faces coming into bodybuilding, body fitness and the swimsuit category,” he said. “There will be four age divisions where persons will compete in the three or four categories that we are hosting. We are appealing for males who are looking to enter the body fitness category to do so early. This new division looks to be one that will be highly contested. We are getting a lot of requests or confirmation from persons. “From all indications, the athletes who are competing in this year’s novice championships are first timers who have been training for a while. I was told that many of them have stuck to their diets and are training hard so they can be victorious. Many of them have reached that peak, so I believe the novice is going to be very competitive.” The annual event caters to athletes competing for the first time as well as those who took to the stage the previous year, but were unsuccessful. It is the first show on the BBFF’s calendar this year. The winners of the various divisions will represent The Bahamas at the Southern Caribbean and Antilles Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships. Sumner is expecting them to take to the stage in the BBFF National Championships as well. This national event will be held in Grand Bahama, on July 21. The Southern Caribbean and Antilles Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships will be held in August, in Trinidad and Tobago. Sumner said: “From all indication from the trainers and coaches, all the athletes competing this year are going to be first timers. That is good because we have to do a major recruitment so we won’t see a drought. We wanted to look at the high school athletes but we are still figuring out ways in which we will do that. We don’t want all the competitors to come from high school but we would like to see them compete. I had asked one or two of my officials to look into that. Invitations are extended to everyone for the novice championships. We welcome athletes from all the associations in The Bahamas. Right now we can’t say how many of them will be attending but we do expect a huge turnout.” All interested persons and those confirmed athletes are asked to meet at Fantasy Gym next Saturday. |
