If there was any doubt in some people's mind that the USA versus The Bahamas Bodybuilding competition that was held in June of this year, was a one shot deal, think again.
Peter Potter, National NPC Vice-president and Chairman of the NPC of Florida, just a day or so ago, sent President of the Grand Bahama Bodybuilding Ass-ociation, Baldwin Darling an e-mail to confirm the date for next year's competition.
Potter, who was in Grand Bahama in June for the first competition, said that the relationship between Grand Bahama and Florida was one he hoped would continue, with competitions taking place in both Freeport and Florida.
Next year the competition is slated to be held in Miami, Florida and has been set to take place on Saturday, May 19, 2007.
"I believe that the 2006 event was a good success and is developed the foundation for this competition to be an annual event, rotating between Grand Bahama and Florida each year," said Potter, in his letter to Darling.
"The competition will be held in conjunction with Florida's NPC Superior Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure championships."
Darling said that he was happy to have received the e-mail from Potter, as it confirmed his intentions for next year's local competition calendar.
"This proves that we had a successful show and that it impressed executives from the NPC, some who was here for the competition in June," said Darling, in an interview with The Freeport News.
"Many of the athletes in Florida were excited about the competition and many who did not attend the show, but read about it in the bodybuilding magazine in South Florida are looking forward to next year's competition."
As far as local athletes are concerned, Darling said that he believes that many local bodybuilders will gear up to compete in Miami next year.
He said that athletes will come from Grand Bahama, Nassau, Abaco and any other family Island, but will be only for those interested in serious competition.
Darling said that he has sent the e-mail to Danny Sumner, president of the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation in Nassau, and he has also responded to Potter's letter confirming the Association's and Federa-tion's interest in continuing this competition.
The June show was the competition that revived bodybuilding in Grand Bahama.
Darling said that he had hoped to follow up that show with another one in November, but was told by the Federation that they had plans to host a show in November.
Darling cancelled his show in Grand Bahama, only to find that the Federation did not go through with their plans to host a show.
That meant that since the June competition, no local bodybuilding show has been held, and only those athletes who travelled to Nassau in September for the Nationals, got to get back on stage.
Since the June show, many fans have been wondering why bodybuilding went quiet.
Darling said that while it may seem quiet because no more shows were held, athletes are still in the gyms training and preparing themselves for next year.
Darling said he has plans to host an event before the year is out (in December), but said that he would expound on those plans later.
In the meantime Darling confirmed that he will host a bodybuilding show in Febru-ary and hopes to have as much competitions as possible leading up to the USA versus Bahamas show in May.
The good thing about having a May competition is that the following month will be the Grand Bahama championships, followed by the Nationals in August in Nassau.
This, Darling says, will allow the athletes to stay in peak shape for a longer period of time, and not have to peak, pull back and then try and peak again.
Potter had indicated in his letter that he intend to have competition not only in men and women bodybuilding, figure and fitness, but notes that there appears to be interest in Teen, Novice and Masters' divisions.
"With the addition of these divisions, it will allow us to focus on recruiting some young bodybuilders next year who may be interested in taking part in this competition," said Darling.
"We want to focus also on getting more seasoned bodybuilders back in competition next year. I feel that they can be a motivation for the younger athletes to get involved in the sport."
In 2008, the USA versus The Bahamas Championship will return to Grand Bahama in 2008.
