Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

BBFF set for its Nationals By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: The National Center for the Performing Arts will be the venue for the 59th Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation's (BBFF) National Championships this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The weigh-in and official registration is set for Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the Mystical Fitness Gym. One of the founding members of the event, Dr. Norman Gay will be honored this Saturday. Athletes representing Long Island, Abaco and New Providence are expected to compete in three segments of the sport - bodybuilding, body fitness and women's fitness. There are eight men's and two women's categories in the bodybuilding segment, four categories in the body fitness segment and two categories in the women's fitness segment. The overall women's bodybuilding and fitness defending champ is Fay Rolle. Aaron Green is the defending overall men's bodybuilding champ and Charnice Bain is the body fitness defending champ. According to the BBFF President Danny Sumner, up to 30 athletes are expected to showcase themselves at this weekend's event. "This year we expect a good show and not in terms of numbers but in terms of quality. This year it will be a combination of veteran bodybuilders and some of the up-and-coming ones. We anticipate a good show and look forward to athletes demonstrating the best of bodybuilding and fitness," noted Sumner. The BBFF President underlined one shortcoming. "The only thing that is not good with us right now is the lack of sponsorship. This is the first time in a long time that we don't have a sponsor. It is a very sad situation and we tried very hard to get support. As a result of these hard economic times, everyone who we spoke to came up with the same excuses. We had one sponsor who pulled out at the last minute. Usually sponsors assist with the athletes travel and accommodations, trophies and venue expenses," said Sumner. Trouble soliciting sponsorship is why Sumner highly endorses a national sports lottery. "Sponsorship is becoming a problem for us, and it was that way for the past four years even though we send out proposals at the beginning of each season. I would like to see a national lottery become operative but not only for the benefit of sporting events. A national lottery will go a long way in the development of this country and sports is an important part of this development," said Sumner. When the nationals are completed, BBFF officers will select athletes to represent the country at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championship set to be held in Grenada the first week of October. Also before then, the overall male and female champions from the recent novice championships will represent the country at the Antilles Championships August 1-2 in the Dominican Republic. Countries aside from The Bahamas expected to compete at the Antilles Championships includes Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. In related news, a dynamic Bahamian duo is poised to represent the Caribbean region at the Kaohsiung, Taiwan World Games, from July 16-26. The International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) selected Bahamians Jay Darling and Paul 'Mighty Mouse' Wilson for that honor. Darling will compete in the middleweight division while Wilson is set to compete in the lightweight division. Tuesday, July 14, 2009