HAMILTON – For the second successive year, the head coach of the Barbados team to the LIME CARIFTA Games is calling for a unified approach to athletics to help prepare the children ahead of the next overseas assignment.
As the jubilant children and the tireless Bahamians jammed on the infield at the National Sports Centre after three incredible days of competition, Alwyn Babb said the unit needed to be kept together in preparation for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championships in El Salvador at the end of June.
“We need to get that group together as early as possible. Clearly there is a need for more technical training in areas that we have our best chance and they need more competition available to them,” he said.
“It will take some more money. We cannot sit down at home and wait until Nationals, competing against the same people and not having the opportunity to go out and compete against other people in the Caribbean.
“I believe the best preparation is to get that group together as soon as possible. If we can encourage the clubs to go to some meets within the Caribbean between now and CAC, we will see better performances there.”
This echoed Michael Worrell’s comment last year that a core squad should kept together, but nothing was done.
Barbados finished fourth in the medal table with two gold, two silver and 13 bronze behind Jamaica 78 (34-25-19); The Bahamas 40 (14-14-12) and Trinidad and Tobago 22 (6-9-7) after winning one medal on the first day.
“I can only rate this performance as one of the hardest CARIFTA Games I have been around. The first day and concerns about the weather and the under-performance of some of the athletes . . . but once the weather cleared up and it was favourable, our athletes performed better.”
Babb again expressed concern that Barbados seemed to be losing ground in events like the 800 metres, hurdles and the Under-17 field events.
“We need to look at all of those events and start preparing at least three athletes to meet the CARIFTA standard and make sure we have a big enough team, a quality team for future CARIFTAs.”
While several athletes struggled to make their mark as individuals, Babb was especially pleased with the performance of the 4×400 metres relay teams, which earned bronze in all of the categories, with the exception of the Under-20 Boys’. Notably missing from the line-up was Shaquille Alleyne who complained of soreness in the knees after the 200 metres and was substituted.
“We saw the first-year Under-17s making their mark as early as possible and they are repeating the division (next year).
“I am very pleased with little Tiana Bowen, 12 years now going 13, Allana Ince and Danielle Scantlebury. I am so proud of those girls for the type of fighting spirit, and they have a great future in the next two years.”
Several athletes performed under their best in the adverse conditions, which forced them to wear skins to keep warm and nasal strips to aid respiration. Babb said if a squad was kept together, time could be spent preparing the children mentally.
“We can’t wait until two days before the CARIFTA Games or we are travelling and [then] try to get them into a frame of mind where they need to perform, no matter what the conditions are.
“It has to be an ongoing process, and I believe the time has come for us to identify those athletes who are going to be the core group of the squad, have some sessions and make it mandatory for them to come to a certain number of sessions that deal with mental preparation.
“They may not be selected based on their performance, but if they are selected, we can’t be rushing into mental preparation at that late stage.”
The 2013 edition of the CARIFTA Games is slated for The Bahamas.