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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

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Santa Talks is giving out treats By SHELDON LONGLEY ~ NG Sports Editor ~ slongley@nasguard.com: You better watch out.You better not cry. Better not pout. I'm telling you why. Santa Talks is coming to town. Ho, ho, ho. Well sports enthusiasts, it's that time of year again, and unlike last year when Santa Talks dished out quite an abundance of punishment, I have a good number of treats to hand out this year. There are over 20 core sports in the country, but in respect of time and space, I will only touch on a handful of them. Let's start with the governing body of Olympic sports in The Bahamas - the BOA. Bahamas Olympic Association The year started off the same way 2007 ended... with an old boy's club of administrators determined to hold onto their seats, and a legion of young guns bent on expelling them. Kudos to the latter for finally getting the job done. Yes, after more than a year of turmoil, the BOA finally staged successful elections this year and the old regime led by former President Sir Arlington Butler was finally booted out. It's just so unfortunate that an outside entity in the person of PASO President Mario Vazquez Rana had to be called in just to oversee the electoral process. As for 'Sir Arli', he said over and over again that he never intended to offer himself for re-election, and as self-appointed chairman, simply wanted to ensure the smooth running of the General Assembly Meeting. He reiterated the need for the elections to be done in accordance with the IOC's Olympic Charter, and was determined to see that it was adhered to. At the end of the day, correct protocol was followed and an entirely new board of officers was elected into the highest sporting body in the country. I'm just thankful, as I'm sure most Bahamians are, that it finally came off and was realized before the Beijing Olympic Games. As a result, the BOA was able to avoid sanctions handed down by the IOC. What an embarrassment that would have been for the country! As for the new body of officers, it seems committed to putting the athletes first, and as if to show an indication of that, it wasted no time in getting Jackie Edwards re-instated on the Olympic team after she was not ratified by the old administration. So far, it appears to be a smooth transition from the old to the new, but it still remains to be seen how effective this new board will be in its respective offices over the next three years. 2008 Grade: C Track & Field As far as administration is concerned, there was quite a bit of turmoil with the 'vote of no confidence' in former BAAA President Mike Sands, but on the track and in the field, it's been another banner year for The Bahamas. Of course that was all culminated by two medals at the highest level of sports worldwide, the Olympic Games. 'Superman' Leevan Sands and the men's mile relay squad continued an impressive trend of at least two medals in the past three Olympiads for The Bahamas, and at least one in the past four. In addition to that, Chris Brown was a close fourth in the men's 400m. Sands had 10-plus leaps over 17m in the men's triple jump in a national record setting year for him, and Brown did the same thing in the men's 400m. Andretti Bain ran a personal best of 44.62 seconds this year, and won both NCAA titles, and Shamar Sands broke the national record in the 110m hurdles at the Scotiabank Olympic Trials. Not to be overlooked are the women as Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie was a double finalist at the Beijing Olympics, Chandra Sturrup continued to defy the age gods as she barely missed out on the 100m final in Beijing, and Bianca Stuart arguably moved past Jackie Edwards as the nation's premier female long jumper. She barely missed out on qualifying for Beijing. 2008 Grade: B Basketball What a resurgence by the sport of basketball here in The Bahamas! Under the leadership of new BBF President Lawrence Hepburn, The Bahamas won both the CBC Under-16 boys and girls titles, and the Under-18 team once again played in the prestigious Tournament of Americas. Both the girls and boys programs are definitely making strides and play on the senior level, which has remained stable for a number of years, seem to be improving as well. 2008 Grade: B+ Bodybuilding & Fitness The joint sport of bodybuilding and fitness was once again one of the most overlooked and underrated sports in the country. The sport flourished under the leadership of BBFF President Danny Sumner, who also serves as President of the Antilles regional body. The highlight of the 2008 season was definitely the CAC Championships held here at home, when The Bahamas was once again able to win the overall title. Unlike last year, there would be no Bahamians earning their pro cards this time, but a sound collective performance gave the team another CAC title. However, there was one skirmish with women's lightweight Lorraine LaFleur performing a vulgar gesture directed toward the judges after placing fifth. Her finger raising moment dampened an otherwise strong overall performance by Team Bahamas, and she was consequently handed a three-year suspension by the federation. 2008 Grade: B+ Boxing The sport of boxing had an awesome year in The Bahamas. What more can be said of Taureano Johnson's tremendous performance at the Olympic Games, and Jermaine 'Choo Choo' Mackey's grueling 12-round bout against Ghana's Michael Gbenga for the British Commonwealth title. Johnson was a bout away from winning the country's first Olympic medal in boxing and consequently received a number five ranking from the International Boxing Association. As for Mackey, he showed the heart of a lion in going toe-to-toe against Gbenga for the Commonwealth title. In addition, the junior program is definitely headed in the right direction with Ray Minus Jr.'s Champion Amateur Boxing Club putting on over a dozen competitive shows for the year, and names such as Valentino Knowles and Shamaalye Lightbourne turning in impressive performances overseas. As far as administration is concerned, ABFB President Wellington Miller was elected President of the BOA, and Fred Sturrup, who was already President of the Pan American Caribbean Boxing Organization, was elected President of the Commonwealth Boxing Council. 2008 Grade: A Swimming With the exception of soccer, the sport of swimming is probably the fastest rising sport in the country. More and more youngsters are getting in the pool, more and more times are being lowered. For the first time in its history, the Bahamas Swimming Federation had two females qualify for the Olympics, and they justified their right for being there with national record setting swims in their events in Beijing. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace became the youngest Bahamian to ever qualify for the Olympics in swimming when she did it at 17 this year, and Alana Dillette joined her by qualifying in the 100m Back. Jeremy Knowles and Grand Bahamian Vereance Burrows made it the largest Olympic team ever assembled for The Bahamas in swimming. Knowles changed his stroke this year and while that caused him a bit in the longer events, he showed marked improvement in the shorter distances. In total, the four-member Olympic swim team broke national records in five of the seven events that they swam in Beijing. The junior swim team turned in another respectable performance at the CARIFTA Swim Championships in Oranjestad, Aruba, and a three-member squad got some valuable experience at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. 2008 Grade: B+ Tennis It was a difficult year for touring professional Mark Knowles, having split with long-time partner Daniel Nestor, but he was still able to turn in respectable performances with first-year partner Mahesh Bhupathi from India. They won three titles together this year, and still finished as the third best team in the world, despite playing on the ATP Tour for the first time together. As a result of being so highly ranked, Knowles qualified for the Olympics in doubles and elected to take the country's number one singles player Devin Mullings with him on his long trek to Beijing. Mullings got an added treat by receiving a wildcard entry into the singles draw to make up the field of 64 players. He was out-classed in his match-up against Argentine Agustin Calleri, and fell in straight sets, but still gave a great account of himself. In doubles, the two-man team of Mullings and Knowles got a tough draw against American identical twin brothers Mike and Bob Bryan, and fell in straight sets to the world's number two team. The return of Knowles to Davis Cup action, and the addition of Timothy Neely, helped The Bahamas to stay in the Americas Zone II for 2009, and in the junior ranks, youngsters such as Rodney Carey, Justin Roberts, Kerrie Cartwright and Kalotina Klonaris continue to paint a bright picture in both male and female tennis in the country. As for Roberts, he was named to his second consecutive ITF touring team this year, and as a result, will play in various tournaments in South America in 2009. 2008 Grade: C+ Overall, it was a great year for sports, and there is optimism for 2009.