By FRED STURRUP, NG Associate Editor, frederick@nasguard.com, frobertsturrup@nasguard.com

The sport of gymnastics continues to grow in the country, with the Nassau Nastics Club leading the way. A very vibrant group with Head Coach Trevor Ramsey being kept quite busy, the Nastics program no doubt will produce a number of senior gymnasts who will one day represent the nation well. There is every indication that such will be the case. Under Ramsey and his training team, scores of youthful Bahamians are being developed.

They are being prepared to compete in regional events in the Florida area and also for tournaments like Gymfest 2008 scheduled this past Saturday. An expanding number of youngsters make up the Nassau Nastics family, inclusive of the very young to those already kind of seasoned in competing and winning awards.

Presently more than 100 young gymnasts are registered with the club and they attend classes from Monday through Saturday. The young Bahamian lads and lasses with their balancing and high bar acts showing great potential are an enthusiastic lot, encouraged by parents and guardians who are dedicated to the sport. The present environment bodes well for future Bahamian Olympians. At this year's Olympics in Beijing, The Bahamas will be represented in four disciplines, namely athletics, boxing, swimming and tennis.

Gymnastics certainly could join the ranks in 2012 or 2016. The prime among the current crop could be ready to qualify. It's a daunting task ahead but The Bahamas is an unusual little country capable of matching up well and often besting some of the great populations of the world. With the strong focus of coach Ramsey and other highly-trained mentors, the young gymnasts are thriving on the balance beam, the tumbling mats and the vaults.

"Events like 'Gymfest 2008' serve to show the community our students' capabilities. It also affords the club opportunities to raise funds for other tournaments, team travel abroad, training, equipment and the scholarship program. This is part of the reason we are so appreciative to the generous donors who have made our organization a tremendous success. This sport is one of the newest in the country, but one of our future goals include expanding the program at all levels, be it preschool, recreational or international. Enhancing the gymnastics apparatus currently in the Nassau Nastics Gym, coaching clinics for staff, scholarships for those in need and when appropriate, obtaining college scholarships abroad are all priorities," said coach Ramsey.

Those objectives are challenging but realistic. I have had that feeling, while monitoring the Nassau Nastics program over the last three years and noting the dedication of Barbara Thompson and company. The gymnastics program in the country is considered to have underachieved. Local competitors have competed all over the state of Florida against their peers who have available to them much better training facilities, and equipment, but of course, just as in other sports disciplines, our young vaulters, mat performers and balance beam specialists constantly give a sneak preview of what to expect when their bodies and minds mature to the point whereby performing through pain and fatigue becomes customary.

Yes, I do believe some future Olympians are in the lot.

Like athletes, administrators, officials and supporters of every sports body in the country, the gymnastics folks are eagerly awaiting the new budget, hopeful that included in the allocation for sports will be funds for a state-of-the-art gym and quality equipment. Amazingly, this is the stage where this little country has arrived at. There is a great need for those who run the country to adjust their thinking about the sporting needs and entitlements in the country.

It's an issue that will never go away and looms larger and larger by the day.

Sports is an important plank in our society, most significant in the proper development process of the nation's youth. Politicians mouth these words often never follow up in kind.