Home|Uncategorized|Sands committed to assisting with proposed programUncategorized

Simba FrenchSend an emailAugust 29, 2023 25 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

BUDAPEST, Hungary – In order for the proposed national sports academy to take flight and come to fruition, all hands must be on deck.

Another Bahamian coach who was at the 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and who has pledged his support is ‘Superman’ Leevan Sands.

Sands, an assistant coach at Florida State University (FSU) with responsibility for jumps, is the personal coach for Bahamian female triple jumper Charisma Taylor, who finished 29th at the world championships with a jump of 13.51 meters (m) – 44’ 4”. Her personal best outdoors is 13.99m (45’ 10-3/4”).

Sands said he had a great time in Budapest coaching Taylor, and is looking forward to the opportunity to help other Bahamian athletes through the proposed national sports academy.

“Budapest is lovely – this is an amazing place. What I loved the most was the support from the people. They came out and supported the event and were really engaged in what was going on,” he said. “With Charisma, I’ve watched her jump over her time in college and I’ve always been there to give advice. I’ve always seen her potential. She is a very determined young lady and I’m so happy to be able to work with her. I feel she is one of the best we have coming up in The Bahamas. She reminds me so much of myself by how determined she is and how she wants to win. I know she’s going to go back to the drawing board and she already told me she is not going to miss another final. At this point, we’re still learning each other. Once we go through the fall training together, and into next year, she will have a much better season.”

The duo has only been working out together for about a month, so really didn’t have much time to prepare for the Budapest World Championships. However, Sands said he is drawn to Taylor because of her work ethic and dedication to get better among other attributes.

“She definitely has the right mindset and talent to be one of the greatest jumpers that we have ever produced in The Bahamas,” said Sands.

That’s certainly high praise considering the source. Sands is arguably the greatest performer of the hop, skip and jump routine that The Bahamas has ever produced. He has experienced success at just about every level, and is the holder of the Bahamian national record outdoors – a leap of 17.59m (57’ 8-1/2”) for the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Sands said he knows there is an abundance of talent in athletics in The Bahamas and is prepared to work in the program at the proposed national sports academy to help nurture that talent.

“Anything to help the youngsters in the community and find those diamonds in the rough, I would definitely be on board with something like that. I’ve always been an advocate for something like that,” he said.

Former Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson spoke about the establishment of the national sports academy during the ministry’s team reception and luncheon in Budapest. Johnson said the idea behind the academy is to bring in college coaches to work with Bahamian athletes in assisting with their development.

Sands is entering his third season as an assistant coach for the FSU track and field program. Prior to his time at FSU in Tallahassee, Florida, Sands served as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, for two years.

He is looking forward to the opportunity to come home to The Bahamas and assist with the national sports program.

The Bahamas finished in a five-way tie for 44th in the placing table with eight points at the world championships.