Carifta expectations set out

Failure to improve on last year’s six Carifta Games medals will be a disappointment, according to Bermuda National Athletics Association president Donna Watson.

The BNAA this week named their 13-strong squad that will compete in Martinique from April 19 against the region’s best young athletes.

With the event’s rise in quality, and Bermuda’s decision to toughen up its required qualifying standard, the Games represent a genuine benchmark as to the ability of the island’s best young talent.

Watson told the Bermuda Sun their “quality over quantity” approach means this year’s smaller squad all have the ability to reach their respective finals.

She said: “Last year we had six medals and, in reality, the six came out of this group, so I will be disappointed if we go under six.

“When I look at the team we have, I see no reason why each of them can not reach the finals and there’s no reason, out of this 13, that we should not get at least six medals.”

Watson says her confidence in the group is borne out of the fact there are no passengers this time around; no one going because they were simply close to the qualifying mark. She said: “The standard of Carifta these days means it is not just a development meet anymore. We need to take our best and that’s what we’ve done. 

“We’ve raised the standards. Those who have made the standard, to me, they are our best.”

She added: “We aren’t taking athletes just for the trip any longer. If you are going it’s because you have commitment to the sport and in our minds and in the athlete’s, number one, you can get to the finals, and number two, you should be a potential medallist.”

Watson says this more stringent approach is vital if Bermuda is to keep pace with other countries.

“Track and field is rising to a higher standard and we have to rise to a higher standard. Now we have Troy [Douglas] here, our national coach, and he’s expecting that so we all have to lift our game up because the world is moving and if we want to be competitive with the world, we have to move with them.” 

Don’t miss Friday’s Sun for Watson’s assessment of the Bermuda squad.