High school sports still on hold

It’s approaching one calendar year since after-school sports were shut down around the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which is continuing to wreak havoc.

With school children back in school, for the most part, there is optimism that high school sports would resume, thereby allowing student-athletes to close out the school year with some sort of activity, but that outlook is looking more and more grim as the days, weeks and months go by.

In the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS), everything is at a standstill. There is no meetings taking place, student-athletes are not allowed to gather for practices and training sessions, and there are no games. Coaches have said privately that their respective schools have already made decisions to pull participation of their student-athletes in sports for 2021, taking it completely off the table.

In the other main high school sports body in New Providence, the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA), there is a semblance of hope. GSSSA leaders are set to meet with the Sports Unit of the Ministry of Education (MOE) today on the way forward for 2021.

“We’re hopeful. We’re pushing hard for track and field, if only, because we still have the CARIFTA Games for our kids to prepare for,” said GSSSA President Varel Davis. “Most likely, we will have to implement tournament style season if we are allowed to play. We have been on hold since last March and everyone wants to get back to sports. We’re hopeful that we could get something off the ground, particularly for the grade 12 kids who are looking for scholarships. This is very frustrating – to see the kids every day knowing that they want to play sports and that they need sports for their physical development and not be able to play is very frustrating. It’s also frustrating for the coaches. Right now, we are just waiting on permission to go forward with our plans,. I’m hoping and praying that something will work out in our favor.”

Davis said they have submitted a plan to the relevant authority and that  they are hopeful for a favorable response. With the CARIFTA Games still on the schedule, the GSSSA junior and senior track and field championships could serve as qualifying meets. Also, there is the Bahamas High School Track and Field Championships which are usually set for mid-March. It was at the high school nationals last year when athletes were pulled off the track, and the meet was canceled, due to the arrival of COVID-19 in The Bahamas.

“We have a plan that we have submitted, detailing how we intend to conduct our sporting disciplines in a safe environment, implement the wearing of masks and social distancing measures, install hand sanitizing stations and have temperature checks,” said Davis. “Also, we are prepared to have no fans in attendance so as to comply with the emergency orders. There are ways to socially distance and protect out athletes when it comes to particular sports like volleyball, softball and baseball.

“I’m hoping that they take a look at the situation in the country and see that our numbers have really been on the decline for a while and that our kids need to get back to some sort of physical activity. With a tournament style system like what we have planned, at least the kids would be able to do something. The coaches are eager and the kids are excited. We understand that safety comes first and we feel that we have a plan in place to keep the kids and everyone involved safe.”

Davis said that they would have a better understanding of how they are going to progress forward after the meeting with the Ministry of Education’s Sports Unit today.

With no high school sporting events, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) would have to rely on local club meets, collegiate meets and foreign events as qualifiers for the CARIFTA Games. 

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