The track and field community spoke loudly on Saturday, returning Drumeco Archer for a second consecutive term as president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA).
Archer was able to gain 50 percent of the votes from the delegates representing the various clubs, to hold off former president Rosamunde Carey and presidential candidate newcomer Dawn Johnson, 24-17-7.
Archer, who won over voters with his ‘More with Meco’ agenda and plan for track and field for the next four years, said he is grateful to the track and field community for their confidence in him and looks forward to another fruitful four years of track and field in The Bahamas.
“We’re very grateful to the track and field community for having the confidence in us as an administration, a new administration, to do the work of track and field in the country,” said Archer. “I believe that the profile of the federation needs to be more fully exploited. The commercial assets of this entity, the biggest entity in this country, will be exploited to the fullest in this term. We are a part of the community and with that, fan participation is going to be a huge focus for us in this term. We are looking to engage the fan base of The Bahamas in track and field and expand it like never before.”
Also voted into office in the first vice president spot is Foster Dorsett, a former president of the association. He defeated Ednal Rolle, Carl Oliver and Rupert Gardiner, 25-13-9-2, respectively.
“I just want to say thanks to all the persons who supported me and the new slate. I’m thankful that they have the confidence in us to carry the association to the next level. I promise to go in there and keep all of the elected officials’ feet to the fire and carry out the functions of the office. I will ensure that each elected official works within the guidelines of the constitution and do their part in ensuring that track and field returns to prominence. We have a lot of work to do.”
John Ingraham, who returned to Grand Bahama on Sunday, was voted into office in the second vice president spot. He defeated Ravanno Ferguson and Sandra Laing, both also from the nation’s second city, 31-9-8, respectively. For the vice president of finance position, Laketah Charlton came out on top, defeating Philippa Willie, Shakena Demeritte and Darius Ferguson by a score of 20-13-8-8, respectively.
For the vice president of public relations and marketing position, this paper’s journalist Sheldon Longley won, defeating Verna McIntosh-Bonaby and Tanya Woodside, 27-12-10. Pharez Cooper, from Grand Bahama, is the new vice president of business operations, defeating Damarius Cash and Cedricka Rolle, 26-15-8, respectively. Finally, Tito Moss won the battle for the vice president of technical operations position, beating Bernard Newbold and Alexis Roberts, 22-21-6, respectively.
“I’m very happy that I was given this honor to serve as vice president of technical operations. Now the work begins,” said Moss. “I look forward to doing all that I can to assist the Family Island coaches with whatever increments that they might not have. I think that’s important. We have the odd distance coming up and that is is our first task as a new administration. We want to make sure all of the technical events and all technical aspects of meets, from the BAAA aspect, are adhered to.
“One of the things that we are looking at is for the jumpers, the top eight, to get at least six jumps. We also want to make sure that at all meets, throwers get at least six throws, and for at least one meet, every four to five meets, for those who do the multi events, and the same for the pole vault, to get some action. We want to make sure those technical events get the attention that they deserve.”
Elected to the council positions for the BAAA for the next term are Jason Edwards, who will serve as the council chairman; Dionne Britton, Mikhilo Strachan, Andrew Tynes, Kennard Mackey, Jason Larrimore and Robert Ayton.
The first meet on the BAAA calendar for the 2022-2023 season is the Odd Distance Track and Field Meet, set for Saturday, December 17.