Beloved coach, teacher and friend Frederick Bastian sadly passed away suddenly early last year and his death touched the lives of many persons on and off the field.

Those mainly saddened were his beloved athletes of the track club Bastian loved and managed; one particular person was Jason Larrimore who at the time was assisting Bastian with coaching duties. Jason did his best to keep the club together thus eventually emerging as the head coach of Kenyon Knights. Jason advised that he never thought of becoming the head coach but only emerged as head coach by chance. “I didn’t think I could have really handled the pressure that came with being a coach but 2 days after the coach died, we had a track meet and persons were asking who was the coach when someone to me and shouted “see my coach right there!”

It seems from that moment, the rest is history! Fast track to June 24^th, Jason with the assistance of others recognized Bastian by hosting the Frederick Bastian Track and Field Classic in his honour.

“For me, hosting a meet in honour of Mr. Bastian is the least I can do as he did a lot for me in the past; I would not be where I am without him. I lost my parents when I was 12 and 13 and he was there for me.” All who came in contact with Bastian knew very well that Bastian was big on sports especially in Grand Bahama and with that in mind a number of athletes who Bastian inspired came out to participate and show their support. Athletes such as Jeffery Gibson, Latoy Williams, Demetrius Williams and Alonzo Russell came out in full support.

Jason discovered very quickly the challenges of organizing a meet; “It was not easy at all, unfortunately, I lost about 10 sponsors right before the meet so I had to make do with what I had.” Jason was very thankful however, to Miss Sandra Laing whom he admitted “without her, I probably would not have gotten anything done.”

Despite the hard work and lack of sponsors, Jason was still pleased with the amount of athletes that competed; in total, there were about 140 athletes. “We had clubs from NP, Moores Island and North Andros. We would like to commend North Andros for their attendance at a meet in Grand Bahama for the first time; I was really pleased with the turnout.”

The athletes did not disappoint; their performances were pretty good especially in the men’s 200 meters, the open men’s and the 300 meter dash.

What now for Coach Jason Larrimore one may ask especially going into 2017? “I would be more prepared than ever. I would go back to the drawing board and I like to do these bigger and better so we are looking for 2017 to be bigger and better!”

Jason plans to have the meet again next year and he believes the meet would be a success particularly as his meet would be held close to Senior Nationals which is expected to be held in GB and according to Jason, “everybody would be looking forward more to that meet so I think next year we would have a bigger turnout.”

Bahamas Athletics wishes the Kenyon Knights in general and Coach Larrimore in particular every success!

Be encouraged!