By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribiunemedia.net

A TOTAL of 14 coaches and administrators - seven males and seven females - will be the recipients of a fully funded exchange to benefit the development of Bahamian youths in track and field through the United States Embassy’s Bridging the Gap Sports Visitor Programme.

The US Embassy in Nassau made the official announcement yesterday in the Harry C Moore Library at the University of the Bahamas in the presence of executives of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations and UB Mingoes Athletic Department.

Lance Posey, the acting deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy, made the announcement, along with Suemayah Abu-Douleh, the US Embassy’s public relations officer.

The programme will afford the coaches and administrators the opportunity to participate in a two-week sports visitor programme in Los Angeles, California and Eugene, Oregon, from May 6-20. It’s the first of its kind and while it’s geared for track and field coaches and administrators throughout Grand Bahama and the Family Islands, the participants will engage with American peers and sports practitioners, and participate in clinics and sessions on leadership, team building and inclusion in equity in sports.

According to Posey, the exchange is aimed at providing support for Bahamian coaches and administrators in their efforts to create and or build upon their Family Island track and field programmes and, at the same time, provide opportunities to increase girls’ participation in sports.

Posey, who started out in track and field but leaned more to basketball because of his height, said they are bridging several gaps, including gender issues by encouraging and targeting girls’ participation and the access gap where they are targeting as many Family Islands as possible.

“We chose track and field because it is a sport that is unique. You don’t need lots and lots of equipment and it’s something that the resources on the Family Islands can be able to meet the track and field needs,” Posey said. “It is also one of the most popular sports in the Bahamas.”

Additionally, Posey said they want to also bridge the gap in education because there are a lot of opportunities for student-athletes, although all don’t make it to college.

“We have many students, who benefit through sports to get them through school, to get them to universities in the states, so that is also another opportunity that we are happy to be able to provide,” he pointed out.

Posey said the US Embassy will be hosting an in-person US College Fair in October. But he said they want to concentrate on this initial exchange programme to allow the coaches and administrators to come back to the Bahamas and utilise the skills they learn from the programme.

Montez Williams, the under secretary at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, said as a representative of the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, he thanked the US Embassy for providing the programme.

“I know that it will yield such great results,” he said. “We have eager, excited, energetic young people and most of them are females, by the way, who are ready to take advantage of this programme.

“So, ours would be the task to identify the seven female and seven male coaches and administrators. I know our doors will be knocked on because we have so many people working in the trenches, especially on the Family Islands as this programme is aimed at reaching so many in the Family Islands.”

He promised that they will get the best representation from the Bahamas, which will be a collaboration between the US Embassy, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations.

As they promote equity in the process, Abu-Douleh said the programme is open to all interested coaches and administrators, who have at least two years’ experience coaching or developing a programme in their community.

Accorduing to Abu- Douleh, interested persons must be Bahamians, vaccinated for COVID-19 and are involved in youth and sporting programmes in their communities, preferably in track and field.

The application process is now open to the public and will be closed on Wednesday, February 22.