By Neto Baptiste
Former national sprinter, national record holder in the men’s 100 meters and Olympian Daniel “Bakka” Bailey has joined forces with longtime former coach Carl Casey to form Antigua and Barbuda’s latest track club.
In an interview with Observer, Bailey said the newly-formed club, Tigers Track Club, came into being about three months ago following discussions with Casey, adding it has always been one of his long- term goals.
“I said to myself that the only how I can get involved and get close back to the sport and feel comfortable is either to become a track and field agent, which I am looking forward to becoming in the future, or start a track club and be a coach. So I called coach [Carl Casey] and asked what he thinks about me opening-up a track club and he said that he thinks it’s a good idea,” he said.
Bailey, who holds the national record of 9.91 seconds achieved in 2009 in Paris, revealed that there are currently six to seven athletes enrolled in the club’s programme, but said to start, they are hoping to have between 15 to 20 athletes.
“First of all, we are looking for a certain talent, so we are not going to be taking up anyone to train just to make up numbers, so when we take somebody up to train it is somebody that we know has the potential to go further where their track and field is concerned. We do take a small registration fee, and at the same time we want to make sure that every athlete is getting the treatment and attention they should be getting. Sometimes when you have too many athletes you overlook a lot of things and you wonder why your athletes are not improving,” the former athlete said.
Meanwhile, Casey said the Tigers Track Club will offer something beyond just track and field to its members.
“I think the mistake we make is that everybody is not going to be world beaters and everybody is not going to be a great athlete, but I think there are so many opportunities in track and field where you can be a physiotherapist, a masseuse, a media person. We’re trying to mould a well-rounded athlete so whenever they decide to leave the sport they know about the sport. There are a lot of athletes who don’t really know the sport,” he said.
Casey has been listed as the club’s head coach with Bailey as his assistant. The club trains at the country’s lone track and field facility, the YASCO Sports Complex.
