By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NORTH American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) President Mike Sands said he likes what he’s seen so far in the lead up to the staging of both the CARIFTA track and field and swimming competitions.

The dual sport competition will be held during the Easter holiday weekend, April 17-24 in Trinidad with about a hour drive separating the two sports.

“There was an intent several years ago to have the CARFITA Games. It was supposed to be a multi-events competition,” Sands said. “But there are very few countries in our region who can host multi-events simultaneously.

“The Bahamas is one and of course Jamaica and Trinidad. So, what the Government of Jamaica has done is they have established a joint Local Organising Committee that is coordinating the entire event and then there’s the implementation committee that is organising the two games separately. 

“But they are working together to maximise the scheduling and attendance of the fans for both events. So it’s a good thing.”

CARIFTA track and field, the brainchild of Barbados’ icon Austin Sealy, got started in 1972 in Bridgetown with Jamaica winning its first title. They reeled off a three-peat before Bermuda was the first country to defeat them in 1975. 

After regaining the title and winning four straight, the winning four straight, The Bahamas emerged as back-to-back champions in 1980 and 1981. Jamaica won again in 1982 and The Bahamas picked up another repeat feat in 1983 and 1984.

That turned out to be the last time that Jamaica relinquished the title, which they have held from 1985-2025, covering a span of 38 years, missing out on 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19 when the games were not held.

Originally there were also some concerns about Trinidad’s ability to still host the double games because of the nationwide State of Emergency (SOE) imposed by the government on December 30th, 2024 based on continued criminal activity that could endanger public safety 

On January 13th, 2025, Parliament extended the SOE by three months. But Sands said Carnival, which is the biggest festival staged in Trinidad & Tobago, was just concluded and so they are convinced that the sporting activities can also take place.

“The local implementation committee for track and field is working on it and we get a report from them every day,” Sands said. “Everything is going according to plan, including the resurfacing of the track.

“So, there should be a brand-new track in place (Hasely Crawford National Stadium), which should be completed in the coming weeks. But the LOC is working hard to ensure that it is an incent-free event.”

THE NACAC family, according to Sands, is made up of about 38 local federations, including the United States, Canada, Cuba and South America, who are not a part of the CARIFTA family.

“So, we expect about 26 of the member federations that a part of the CARIFTA family to participate in the track and field competition,” said Sands, of the longest running junior competition in the region.

While he couldn’t confirm how many will participate in swimming, which the Bahamas will be going after it’s seventh straight title, Sands said it’s going to be tough to upstage Jamaica, the perennial kingpins of the track and field competition.

“If you check the history of the games, all of our top athletes in the region, with very few not included, who would come through the CARIFTA programme,” Sands said.

“So, it’s always very exciting to see which next star will be born out of CARIFTA and whether any country can dethrone Jamaica or come close to competing with them. That’s the excitement of the CARIFTA Games in terms of performances.”

In trying to be impartial, Sands said the Bahamas, like every other membership, will have their rising stars as he’s monitoring the performances in each country.

“So, it’s building to be a very exciting CARIFTA Games, as it is every year,” Sands said. “It’s also a good CARIFTS family reunion. It’s the one event in the region where you have the comradery of the member federations because it’s a fun filled festival atmosphere.”

Sands also noted that after former International Amateur Athletic Federation president Lamine Diack made it a point to attend the games up to his tenure in office, making his first appearance in the Bahamas in 2000.  

Since his departure in 2015, Lord Sebastian Coe, who took over, has followed suit by putting the event on his agenda to attend the games. He said the first thing he puts on his calendar is CARIFTA.

And in recent years, Sands said CARIFTA has become a major recruiting ground for many of the top collegiate coaches, who are now taking advantage of being at the same event to attend the games where they get to view all of the top athletes in the region.

As a note, the first C ARIFTA Swimming Championships took place in Martinique in 1991 with The Bahamas winning the title. Martinique won the next three titles from 1992-1994. Jamaica, however, topped the most consecutive wins with six from 1999-2004 until The Bahamas tied that feat 2017-2024 for a total of 10 overall. Like track and field, swimming also skipped 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19.