The Bahamas Telephone Company (BTC) has pledged $175,000 to the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) as sponsorship for the 42nd Annual CARIFTA Games, the region’s most significant track and field event, which is scheduled to be held March 29 thru April 1 in Nassau, said BAAA’s president, Mike Sands.
This sponsorship makes BTC the title sponsor and therefore “we are extremely proud to name the games for this year The BTC CARIFTA Games 2013, reflecting BTC’s level of sponsorship and nation building commitment to junior and youth athletics in the country” said Mr. Sands.
He said History shows that CARIFTA champions are certainly viewed as potential future Olympic Games material.
“We are grateful to BTC for recognising this fact and for backing up their belief in the country’s young aspiring athletes with essential financial support. This BTC support will help us shape our athletic destiny as a country,” said the BAAA chief.
BTC senior vice-president Marlon Johnson said BTC is ever conscious of the community it serves. Community is first for BTC. Sponsorship budgets are always directed at opportunities to educate or entertain and in some way better people’s lives. “We’re appreciative of our thousands of customers who use our services and we try and show that.”
He said the BTC CARIFTA Games promises to be one of the best and the outcome is expected to underline The Bahamas’ maturity as a viable contender on the world’s winning athletic stage.
CARIFTA has been held previously in the Bahamas in 1976, ’78, ’81, ’84, ’92 and 2002. The games have produced athletes such as Usain Bolt, Darrel Brown, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kim Collins and Pauline Davis-Thompson.
By Stirling Strachan
Bahamas Information Services