The mother of one of Bermuda?s brightest athletics hopes is urging all entities within the sport to unite and resuscitate it before it?s too late.

Once a sprinter who trained with late national coach Clive Longe, Wilhelmina Smith has lamented track and field?s ?lost? state and warns that if something is not done soon to restore interest in athletics a lot of talent will be wasted.

?Track and field is dying,? declared Smith, mother of top junior 400 and 800-metre runner Deanne Lightbourn.

?There were far more kids competing and more spectators when I was an athlete. Now there?s almost nobody. It?s lost. Carifta last year was a very positive experience and it was because we all came together ? it wasn?t just one person.

?Though people had issues we put them aside and united. We need to do that again now. I would like to see everyone put their differences aside and work for the benefit of our youth. The talent is there and we need to capture the youth before they get caught up in other things.

?When athletes see what?s going on with the BTFA (Bermuda Track and Field Association) and clubs that probably discourages them but, if all these groups unite, I think we would be able to determine what?s best for our children.?

Speaking out against the backdrop of her daughter?s switch from the national training programme to Mid-Island Striders club, the parent noted that several other mothers and fathers have concerns about the programme and the way athletics is going ?but they don?t want to speak up?.

?A lot of parents have come to me and complained and I feel we have to speak out because we don?t want athletics to fail completely. There?s still some hope,? noted Smith.

Reiterating that she has nothing against national coach Gerry Swan, Lightbourn?s mother explained that she and Deanne?s father (Dean Lightbourn) felt they needed to take their daughter?s dissatisfaction seriously and therefore opted to move her.

?Deanne had a complaint every week and I felt it was stressing her out ? and me as a parent ? and her father and I met with Gerry Swan. After that we concluded it was time for her either to take a break from athletics or make a change in her training.

?We felt that making a change was the best thing so she wouldn?t quit the sport altogether which is what?s happened to other kids. She seems very happy now,? said Smith, who thanked Swan and Deanne?s previous club Bermuda Pacers for their roles in her athletic development.

Deanne, who this year has already notched victories in the Front Stree Mile and Telford Electric Mile, joined the national programme in December, 2003, to be eligible for Carifta Games selection last year. She won bronze medals in the Under-17 Girls 800 metres and the mile relay and was looking forward to representing the Island again in this year?s Easter weekend showpiece in Tobago ? but that was not to be as she switched to Striders in January.

?Sometimes the workouts were too hard and I felt sick and would throw up. Mr. Swan would make us do lots of drills and I would not feel like doing them but he would make me finish my sessions,? recalled the 14-year-old of what led to her unhappiness in the national programme.

Ultimately the worsening rapport between her and the national coach forced her to stand up to Swan as she refused to push herself any further.

?We would have arguments and I didn?t like that,? she said candidly ?but, if there was a need, it had to be done.?

?She was feeling very uncomfortable about that and sometimes she felt she was overlooked also,? said Smith, adding that Deanne had other commitments like church and homework which sometimes cut into her training time.

She noted that being placed in such regimented circumstances is ?a lot of stress on kids at a young age? and she felt it ?was too much? for Deanne.

?Sometimes she would be sick and not be able to finish her workout. So, the next time, she would have to double up.

?I don?t have anything against Mr. Swan and I would work with him in the future at meets but this was an issue about my daughter and I had to look after her interest and consider how she felt.

?Sometimes you have to work along with a child and talk to them, especially when they are young and talented, to encourage them. I?m not saying Deanne is a perfect child and I constantly tell her a lot of good can come out of athletics but she is only 14 and, right now, I think she needs a different environment.?

However, Smith hopes that in the future Deanne will don Bermuda?s national colours again at Carifta and other international Games, even if it means returning to the national programme.

The Berkeley Institute student wishes likewise.

?Yes, I would like to represent my country if everything gets worked out. I would love to do Carifta and other meets for Bermuda but I think Mid-Island Striders is better for me now. It?s working out well and I like it,? said the star athlete who aspires to be a doctor.