by SHERRYLYN A. CLARKE

AS BARBADOS LOOK AHEAD to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, they will be hard-pressed to find the athletes who will emerge at that time to replace veterans like Obadele Thompson and Andrea Blackett.

And with so many of the best athletes leaving the island on scholarships in the United States, this system must be revisited as it is not providing the elite senior athletes to continue the sport in this country.

That was the view expressed by coach Alwyn Babb in a recent interview with NATIONSPORT.

"We have so many athletes on scholarship but we are not seeing the returns," Babb said.

"If we are to prepare athletes for international competition, we need a system where they can train instead of just going into a system like Inter-School Sports where the school is just looking for points."

Babb said these athletes needed not only to come home and compete at National Championships, but also to represent the island in international competition and "make the step to the next level".

"In Barbados, the socialisation focuses on academics and getting a degree. We need to start looking at other options," said the head of Rising Stars Club.

He identified athletes like half-miler Sheena Gooding, jumper Henderson Dottin and thrower Justin Gooding – all national record-holders in their respective events – who are just skimming the surface of international competition.

Babb looked at the success being enjoyed by Jamaica, which have taken the bold step to keep many of their athletes at home.

Stephen Francis, the man who coaches world 100-metre record-holder Asafa Powell, sprinter Sherone Simpson and hurdler Bridgette Foster-Hylton, runs his MVP programme in Kingston and it is reaping rewards.

"We have to look and see if there are prospects within Jamaica so that they [athletes] can train, compete and if they are injured they can be looked after. Andrew Hinds [who trains in Jamaica] has improved and there is no disputing that."

Babb said the months of September to December were very important as that was the time when the conditioning was put in place to build the foundation for the rest of the season, but many of the local athletes didn't start training until January.

"We had a good season with good results to build on. We have to look at areas like jumps, the middle distance and the long distance.

"If we continue in the traditional events like hurdles, sprints and throws, our medal tally will remain the same," Babb said.