By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FOR consecutive weekends, the BAAA will host its top athletes at both the junior and senior levels as they vie for national titles and national team roster spots.

Rosamunde Carey, president of the BAAA, began to galvanise support as they announced title sponsors for both the senior and junior meets.

First up will be the junior nationals this weekend June 15-16 at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, sponsored by Caribbean Bottling Company.

The championships will serve as a qualifier for the IAAF Junior World Championships, scheduled for July 10-15 in Finland, and the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled for Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 11-23.

“We have combined the youth and junior nationals so that we can get more participation and competition from the athletes. The countdown is on for two action-packed weekends of competitive track and field.

“We believe that this year’s nationals will be the most scintillating to date primarily because of the competition between both the senior and junior athletes. But also because of the investment, ingenuity that our featured partners will bring to the table.

“Collaboratively, the federation and our corporate citizens have designed a number of events, leading up to and including the championships,” Carey said.

“The history of our national championships has been one that has been lost over time by our national trials for athletes to just qualify for national teams, but this new executive has sought to reinstate the original intent for the nationals and that is at the end of all of your hard work, when you win that medal you will be crowned the national title in that event, you will have the title of national champion for the entire year. That is something that you ought to strive for. Receiving that accolade and applause in front of your home crowd as a national champion,” he said.

The Senior nationals are scheduled for June 22-23 at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium and will be sponsored by Kalik.

“We expect all of our elite athletes to participate in this event,” Carey said. “Even though this is considered an off year, we have a number of international events coming up that we have to field teams to compete in. All of our senior athletes should be here to compete.

The championships will serve as the qualifier for the Central American and Caribbean Games, set for Barranquilla, Colombia, July 20 to August 3 and the NACAC Senior Championships in Toronto, Canada, August 10-12. For the first time, NACAC will be offering prize money for the top finishers in the championships, which is expected to boost the participation of the top athletes in the region to compete.

Queswell Ferguson, Kalik brand manager, said as the “beer of the Bahamas” celebrates its 30th anniversary, the partnership with the BAAA allows Commonwealth Brewery to act as a responsible corporate citizen.“Kalik, the beer of the Bahamas, is very pleased to be the title sponsor of the BAAA Senior National Championships. “We are celebrating 30 years and we are very delighted to do all that we can toward the sustenance of athletics and to have the athletes join in the celebration,” Ferguson said.

“We definitely would not be doing it the Kalik way if we did not have a party or add to the celebration. So one of the features this year we will be bringing to the Senior Championships, on the 23rd following the event we will sponsor a live band and a Junkanoo rush-out so that all of the athletes can truly enjoy the celebration with the beer of the Bahamas. Once again Commonwealth Brewery as a corporate citizen is always pleased and satisfied to do everything that we can to support local culture and sports activities.”