By: Curtis Morton
Impressive local athlete, Royston Queeley is set to leave Nevis tomorrow Saturday 1st June for Jamaica for a two months training stint with the prestigious Racers’ Track Club headed by world renowned coach, Glenn Mills.
Campbell’s camp has produced athletes of the caliber of the current fastest man in the world, Usain Blot and Yohan Blake, among others.
President and Manager of the Titans Track club, Timothy Caines broke the news on Thursday in an exclusive interview with NTV Sports. He also pointed out that the main goal of his club is to work towards the overall development of the athletes. Just last year, the club secured academic scholarships for two athletes in Brittany Morton and Lawrington Forbes who are both studying in Kansas and also competing in athletic meets as well.
He believes that Queeley too has significant potential. ‘It’s an expensive venture,’ he noted. ‘However, we expect to reap huge dividends in the future.’
He pointed out that the young athlete who excited the Interprimary crowds at the ET Willet Park in his formative years, especially in the 100 and 200 meters events, is now settled and focused on competing in the 400 meters and Caines indicated that his best time is 48.00 seconds at this time and the first order of business is to get him up to the level of getting to a sub 48.00 seconds time and get to the world class qualifying times with an intention of getting into the Olympics in 2016.
The quietly spoken Queeley for his part stated that he was aware of the awesome responsibility being placed on his broad shoulders but indicated that he was up to the task and intended to be a great ambassador for his Titans Club, for Nevis and the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis. He was also confident that with the hard work he intends to put in, that he will achieve the sub 48.00 seconds within the initial first two months of his training stint.
Caines noted that the coordination of the trip took a lot of effort and expense which included ongoing fund raising events by the club; a significant contribution by the Nevis Island Administration; assistance from Sponsors such as Hamoron Services, under the management of Ron Daniel; Tamarind Cove under the management of Greg Hartman and A1 Technology, under the management of Mackie Tross.
He stopped short of giving an actual costing figure for the endeavour but stated that overall it would be in the vicinity of $EC 17,000.00 to $20,000.00. He urged other businesses and individuals to come on board to assist Queeley in this ambitious aim to push him to the top and gain international acclaim.
Queeley, who has had a successful career so far representing St.Thomas’ Primary; Charlestown Secondary; the Titans Track Club and Nevis on a whole, noted that his past successes have not prevented him from remaining humble. He thanked Coach Eddy caines for getting him seriously interested in running because at that time his first love was Football. He also thanked his employers, four Seasons Resort Estates for giving him special time off from work to pursue his goals.
‘I trust God and I will stay focused and do my best to make everybody proud,’ he declared.