By Neto Baptiste
General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Tennis Association (ABTA), Peter Quinn, has sought to debunk reports that the body’s failure to meet the November 30th deadline date for submission of National Sports Awards nominees, is in keeping with a 2023 proclamation they would not make any submissions as per the request of some athletes.
The tennis association is amongst four bodies that field to meet the recent deadline, making this the second straight year that no athletes or officials from the discipline will be recognized for their efforts.
“I would say that we missed the deadline. We were having discussions and we had not arrived at a definitive position prior to the deadline expiring so that’s how I would state it. Over the years when we’ve made nominations, certain things happened but let me leave it there but we were contemplating and before we could arrive at a definitive position, the deadline expired,” he said.
In 2023, head of the association, Cordell Williams, announced that the body would not make nominations as a number of the athletes had asked to be excluded from the process. Williams also had his concerns regarding the awards and called on organizers to ensure that all winners were adequately rewarded for their hard work.
Quinn said he would seek to have dialog with the Ministry of Sports regarding the possibilities of making late submissions but said he is not holding his breath.
“Last year, when we made a treaty to submit the names after the deadline, we were told unequivocally that we can’t submit after the deadline even if it was just for the athletes to be recognized. They were very strict, hard and fast so they said no,” the GS said.
A total of 19 associations and or federations met the December 2 submission deadline for the 2024 National Sports Awards slated for March 15 next year.
Fitness athlete, Ambassador Kimberly Percival and kiteboarder Tiger Tyson captured the women’s and men’s senior crowns while sprinters Kasiya Daley and LaNica Locker were named the Junior male and female athletes of the year for 2023.
