Go on a recruitment drive for overseas-based athletes who have Barbadian parents.
That’s the plea from Bryan Holder, head coach of the Barbados’ CARIFTA Games’ track and field team, which gained 14 medals – one gold, five silver and eight bronze – over three days of competition at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad.
Holder acknowledged that while the Games showed that Barbados can get the job done, they must also look at recruiting some of the talented children of former Barbadian athletes who are now living in the United States after gaining scholarships to represent
the country.
“For me, the biggest takeaway is that we can get it done. When we won 33 medals, it was a different time. In the last couple years, you’ve seen territories like Guyana, Aruba having more representation and therefore with that greater representation, they are not just bringing anybody and everyone but they are looking for athletes who have parents who were born in their countries or second generation children who are coming here with American accents and representing some of these territories.
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