By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

AFTER staging their first practice in Santa Tecla, El Salvador on Saturday, Sydney Clarke said Team Bahamas is ready to compete in the Billie Jean King (BJK)Cup.

Team Bahamas, captained by Kim O’Kelley and composed of Clarke, Simone Pratt, Jalisa Clarke and Saphirre Ferguson, are slated to begin competition in the week-long American Zone III tie today against Trinidad & Tobago.

O’Kelley, who played under the banner of the Fed Cup before it was changed to the Billie Jean King Cup, said it will be a task but the ladies are up for the challenge. “It will be tough. Our opposing girls are playing Division 1 NCAA tennis, so our players will have to play some of their best tennis,” she said. “Anything is possible.”

Clarke, who recently played her collegiate experience at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said they are looking forward to  putting their best foot forward. “We had our first practice yesterday and it went well. 

“Although we were tired from travelling we were able to pick up the momentum and energy as we got more and more into the practice,” Clarke said. 

“I’m very excited for the competition and I think we have a good chance to do well. We are working great together as a team and I pray that we all do our best to represent the country well.”

The Bahamas is playing in Group B with Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Suriname. Group A includes Uruguay, Panama and St Lucia and in Group C are Cuba, El Slvador, Antigua & Barbuda and the US Virgin Islands.. 

The competition will run through August 23 and will consist of a two-stage round robin, with one pool of three (Pool A) and two pools of four (Pool B, Pool C), followed by the winners of each pool playing each other in a round robin (A1, B1, C1). The top two teams in that round robin are promoted to Americas Group II in 2026.