Bodybuilding?has become the latest arena to suffer a fallout from the closure of the Plantation Restaurant and Garden Theatre with its premier event, the National Championships, having to be shifted at the last minute.
And in the wake of the venue change, the president of the Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding and?Fitness Federation (BABBFF), Dr Andrew Forde, said the time had come for the sport to have a permanent home.
For most of the last decade, the Plantation Theatre has been home for the Nationals. But the south coast nightclub venue, which has been home to a myriad of entertainment shows, has been put up for sale as a result of continuous losses, particularly in the last three years.
The BABBFF?have not only made a venue change but have also had to make a date change.
The championships will now be staged at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC) on August 24, a week later than had been scheduled.
“It’s an inconvenience as it relates to the timing of Nationals and the preparation of the team for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships. It will mean that those flexing muscles at the Nationals will have less time to be in top shape for the CAC,” he said.
The date change means that once the Nationals are complete, national representatives now have just three weeks to prepare for the CAC?Championships slated for the Dominican Republic on September 20 and 21.
Forde told WEEKEND?SPORT that it would be more expensive for the federation to stage the Nationals at the LESC.
“It is going to cost us more because the audio-visual capacity at the Plantation is difficult to replicate elsewhere. That’s going to drive up the cost of the Nationals. We are going to need to have a certain audio-visual capacity to showcase what our sponsors have.”
The quality of the lighting on stage had been an issue at the Plantation, and Forde acknowledged that the LESC would bring plenty of positives.
“Certainly, the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre will be cooler and more comfortable for the bodybuilders. The dressing area will be larger but what it does highlight is the need for a venue for the Nationals. I don’t think we have the ideal venue for hosting major bodybuilding competitions,” he said.
Forde made it clear that bodybuilding needs to have a headquarters.
“The Nationals not only need a home but an administrative office,”?he said. “I have to keep a lot of the paperwork and I suspect that is the case with many other sporting organizations.”
Bodybuilding is not part of the Olympic movement and Forde was quick to point out that the sport would get more financial help if it was affiliated to the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA).
“Associations that are linked with Olympic sports are at an advantage in many ways as it relates to other sources of financing. It does help to have some facility for accessing the funding from the lottery,” Forde added.
