AAB Senior National Championships in Barbados to Honor Outstanding Athlete, Anticipated as World-Class Event

By Morissa Lindsay

The Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) Senior National Championships, scheduled to take place in August this year, will be dedicated to an outstanding senior Barbadian athlete and promises to be a world-class event.

That is the word from president of the AAB, Noel Lynch, as he outlined plans for the championships on Wednesday night at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex during the official announcement of the Barbados CARIFTA Games team, which is scheduled to depart between April 16 and 17 to compete at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

“We have some surprises coming for the Senior championships. There are a lot of people overseas on scholarships that are going to be coming back. There are seniors that are going to be coming back for the Senior championship this year,” Lynch added.

“We intend to dedicate the Senior championships to one of our senior athletes who has been an outstanding person in the past. Don’t miss Senior championships this year. It is going to be spectacular – unlike what you have ever seen before,” Lynch said.

Lynch, a former CARIFTA Games’ sprint gold medallist, who was the chairman of the National Organising Committee for last year’s ICC T20 World Cup which climaxed with the final at Kensington Oval, said while planning for the championships have not yet been finalised, it is going to be a top-quality event when it comes off at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.

“In terms of how we put it together, in terms of what we do, it is going to be a real world-class event. I want to encourage junior athletes to be there for the Senior championships,” he said.

Lynch, in speaking to the junior athletes, also acknowledged that while he understood they have commitments with writing Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, it was important for them to balance both academics and athletics.

“I want to tell you that you can do both. If you want to go away on a scholarship, you have to do both, and you cannot compete unless your academics are correct. You have to qualify academically to qualify athletically. So, I want you to hold that in the back of your mind.

“I say all of that to say that after CARIFTA is over, I still want you to continue as much as you can into the senior championship in August. The reason it is being held this late this year is because the World Senior Championship is in September, and that is the reason we want people to continue to compete,” Lynch said.