?Unlike previous years, the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) will not be using the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games as a qualifier for the Commonwealth Games next year.
That’s because in a departure from the norm, the Commonwealth Games will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 4, 2014, while the CAC Games will be later – from November 14 to 30 in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
The BOA and its member federations are in the process of finalizing the selection criteria for those games.
The other major meet for Barbados next year is the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, from August 16 to 28.
BOA directors Cammie Burke and Mona Alleyne have been named chef de mission of the Commonwealth and CAC Games, respectively, while office manager Glyne Clarke will oversee the youth contingent.
During a press briefing on Wednesday at the Olympic Centre, Clarke said the CAC Games remained the primary competition for the BOA and they were committed to sending a large team.
“The strategy is two-fold – an attempt to expose our competitors and officials to compete in large games while at the same time, using their competition as a criteria to determine prospects for the games of a much higher standard, namely Commonwealth Games, Pan American and Olympic Games.”
“Unfortunately, next year the Commonwealth Games fall before the Central American and Caribbean Games, so we will be unable to use these games as a selection mechanism as we have done in the past.”
President Steve Stoute also acknowledged that the timing in November would be problematic for both athletics and swimming but they still hoped to send as big a contingent as possible.
Clarke said the qualification standards for the Youth Olympics were set by the International Olympic Committee and the various national federations and they were waiting to determine how many athletes and which sports would be representing the country at those games.
Stoute also announced that the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) would be holding its executive board meeting in Barbados on July 14 and 15.
Among the items on the agenda are the consideration of bids for the 2019 Pan American Games from Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; La Punte, Argentina and Bolivar, Venezuela.
Secretary general Erskine Simmons is on the evaluation committee which will chose the host city, while Dr Adrian Lorde is a member of the medical commission.
Barbados have traditionally done well in boxing at the Commonwealth Games, and Kathy Harper-Hall, secretary of the Boxing Association of Barbados, said they were aware of the situation and had already tailored their programme to give the boxers an edge.
“We are trying to get as many boxing bouts as possible to get them ready. You don’t have to qualify for the Commonwealth Games, but we want to send the best team we have,” Harper-Hall said.
“Wherever there is competition now, we are trying to get them exposure to try to get them ready for the Commonwealth Games.”
Next month, the Boxing Association will be sending separate teams to the Cheo Aponte tournament in Puerto Rico and the Cordova Cardin in Cuba. Two Barbadians are also slated to compete in the Women’s Continental Championships in Venezuela in May.