By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

With a cheque of $289,000, Aliv came on board as the official broadcast sponsor of the 50th Golden Jubilee CARIFTA Games, all set for the Easter holiday weekend at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The cheque presentation to the Local Organising Committee by Nikolette Elden, head of marketing & brand for Aliv, as well as Delmaro Duncombe, director of B2B sales, Cable Group of Companies, was made yesterday on the Legends Walk outside the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Duncombe said in conjunction with the 50th Independence celebrations of the nation, the Cable Group of Companies comprising of Aliv, Aliv Fiber, REV, Cable Bahamas Business Solutions and Our TV, they look forward to televising the games on Our TV nation-wise and distribute the same throughout the Caribbean and the Americas.

“We want to provide our young athletes with a global stage to display their talent because we believe in their potential,” Duncombe said.

“World champions like our very own director of speed and connections Shaunae Miller-Uibo and also our very own sporting legends like Steven Gardiner, Anthonique Strachan, the Golen Girls and the Golden Knights, all got their start at this very track.”

Duncombe said the games will give the next generation of athletes the opportunity to start their journey to becoming superstars and they encourage Bahamians near and far to come to the stadium and to watch on all of their social media platforms their performances during their games.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg, who was on hand, commended Aliv on behalf of the Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and the Government of the Bahamas, for joining forces in providing a high level of communication of the games from the Bahamas to the rest of the world.

“Aliv has been a dynamic force in providing excellent communication services within our community,” he said.

“Like the CARIFTA Games, they have been a force for networking and developing relationships throughout our islands.

“Now they will provide the opportunity for the entire region to come together for the upcoming CARIFTA Games. I am proud today to join hands with Aliv, who has seen fit to making the upcoming games the most memorable one to date, but also in supporting the development of our youth in our region.”

Lynden Maycock, the chief executive officer of the LOC, said there was a bidding process and as presented by two major communication companies in the Bahamas and Cable Bahamas, Aliv would have won that bid.

“ZNS will still be a part of these CARIFTA Games. They will be given a direct line feed in terms of being able to broadcast the games free of charge. So, they would be able to do whatever they want to do with that clean feed, and I encourage ZNS to go out and make the millions of dollars that can do.”

Maycock said it’s all about competition and while ZNS may be the national broadcast of the country, they won’t autonomically be chosen.

“We want the best for this country and with a brand like the CARIFTA Games, which is the greatest youth event in terms of athletics in the world, we align ourselves with greatest. Not to say that ZNS is not great, they are great, but Aliv would have won on that day.”

With the issues that they experienced and were able to rectify during the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade, Duncombe said they are well on their way to making sure that all of the glitches are worked out for CARIFTA.

“We don’t anticipate any challenges with anyone wanting to visually take part in these 50th CARIFTA Games in terms of broadcasting,” Duncombe said.

Maycock said he’s pleased with the preview of the talent search that Aliv has engaged in, and he anticipates that they will produce a top-tier production for the games, including persons from all over the region, but more importantly from the Bahamas.

Drumeco Archer, president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, also welcomed the partnership of Aliv and indicated that it demonstrates the power of television on sports and in particular, the CARIFTA Games.

“The responsibility and the task that have assumed in delivering what we call the greatest event in our junior programme in the world is a mammoth one,” Archer said.

“Because Aliv and the Cable Group of Companies have been around for so many years, we’ve grown up with this company, we’ve seen them deliver junkanoo, we’ve seen them deliver the world and national news and we will see them deliver the CARIFTA Games, which will not only be historic for the Bahamas, but for the region.”

Archer, however, said while they commend Aliv for their sponsorship of the CARIFTA Games, the BAAA doesn’t have any relationship with Aliv and so it would behove both entities to join forces.

“The CARIFTA Games is really an impetus of what this relationship can look like,” he said. “But I think this is an opportunity for Cable Bahamas and its group of companies to become a perennial partner of the federation and to follow all of the ambitions of the organisation as we travel the world in every level of competition from age group to the elite level of competition.

“I think it’s an opportunity for Cable Bahamas to be front row and centre as the Bahamas carries it flag and makes the country proud. So, I think it’s something that would benefit the country and it would be the first of its kind outside of ZNS for a private entity giving coverage to Team Bahamas in a very different unique way.”

Preparation for the stadium/Athletes Village

CARIFTA chairman Harrison Thompson said they are very confident that the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field and National Stadiums will be ready for the hosting of the games.

“The Government of the Bahamas has already awarded the contract for the renovations of the stadium and work should start by next week, God’s willing,” said Thompson, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Sports.

“So, we’re very confident that the stadium will be ready, and it will be first class and the world will be happy to see when they get here.”

Maycock said the athletes and officials will be housed at the Breezes hotel and venues like the Marriott Courtyard, Baha Mar resorts and Comfort Suites.

“Many of our major properties will be used for the CARIFTA Games,” Maycock said. “Many persons will be coming in from far and near and they will be housed in great accommodations here.”

CARIFTA financial goals

Maycock revealed that while they projected a budget of $3 million in sponsorship, they are half way there with $1.5 million in sponsorship so far.

“There are persons in corporate Bahamas who are calling just about every day and so we expect to meet our goal in respect to the $3 million that we targeted in sponsorship for the operations of these games,” he said.

“The $3 million will be achieved through sponsorship as well as ticket sales, merchandising and so we look forward to those funds being accumulated in our $3 million target.”

Progress of the games

With a little over 40 days in terms of the LOC in their readiness, even though there are more than 70 days away from the start of the games, Maycock said everything is looking great.

“Our team is charged, we are energised, we’re working every day, talking about seven days a week, so we expect for these games to be the greatest youth games, the greatest games for the 50th anniversary. Aligning ourselves with companies like Aliv and companies like Oak Tree Medical, we expect to be great.”

And according to Archer, the Bahamas has shown that they have the ability to host international events, case in point, the World Relays, having beaten out Switzerland as the host for the return here in 2024.

“There’s trust and confidence in the delivery of our events. We’ve shown masterfully, how well we can deliver events at this level,” Archer said.

“So, I think when you consider the high level of delivery of events that we’ve had over the more recent years, within the past decade, I think we rival among some of the best in the world and in the region, more particularly.

“So, I am very pleased where we are. The operations team is doing a ‘yeoman’ job, and I think we will have a world-class, first-class event that will be perhaps the best CARIFTA gathering.”

BAAA ready

As it pertains to Team Bahamas, Archer assured the public that the Bahamas will produce the best team assembled in many years.

“Already, we have seen significant progress within our athletic core,” he pointed out. “This weekend was a debut of what could be expected and under frigid temperatures, our athletes performed at a very high level.

“I was very pleased with some of the performances and already we had some outstanding qualifiers.

In the women’s 400m, Javonya Walcourt would have run 54.24 seconds indoor. I think that bodes well for what we can expect on the track. So, we are excited about what we will bring to Nassau April 8-10.”