Despite The Bahamas water polo team’s recent outstanding accomplishments in Kingston, Jamaica this past weekend, Bahamas Aquatic Federation (BAF) President Algernon Cargill said, he is still disappointed with corporate Bahamas’ lack of support.
Cargill, in an interview with Eyewitness News on Tuesday said, he remained puzzled as to why both the water polo and swimming teams struggled to garner support from the local corporate community in recent years.
“Water polo and swimming have had such a hard time attracting corporate sponsors,” Cargill said.
“We are competing in the same space as Caribbean Free Trade Agreement (CARIFTA) track and field that is being hosted in New Providence. We honestly got a poor response from corporate Bahamas.
“But in the same breath, I want to thank all of the sponsors that came forward and assisted the BAF and raised enough funds for both teams to be able to travel to Kingston. That leads me to our title sponsor BTC, who has done a great job funding the team the last few years. However, even BTC is not enough to fund the entire CARIFTA team, and we can use the continued support.
“Now that they have this accomplishment under their belts, hopefully corporate Bahamas can see the opportunity to sponsor young, developing Bahamians. And hopefully, winning CARIFTA can show them that investing in water polo is money well spent.”
The Bahamas water polo team went a perfect 3-for-3 this weekend at the 2018 CARIFTA Water Polo Championships.
“We started the water polo aspect of the BAF back in 2004, and in a short time, we have quickly climbed to being top in the region,” Cargill added.
“There was a time when we couldn’t win a game, much less CARIFTA gold in three divisions. All credit to the coaches that have done such a great job with this team, and also to the parents, for having the confidence in the federation.”
Prior to this year’s CARIFTA championships, team Bahamas competed in the South Florida International Water Polo Tournament (SFIWP). After a tough weekend, the team finished 12th overall among some of the top teams in North America.
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