on whether top foreign athletes can be persuaded to participate without demanding high appearance fees.

The Bermuda Track and Field Association is resigned to the fact that it will have to come up with major corporate sponsorship to pull in some big names for the event, yet it is not giving up hope that some athletes will reduce their demands.

It is no secret that the association is not financially able to pay out between $10,000 and $15,000 to athletes for appearance fees, but officials were this week keeping their fingers crossed in hope that there remained some prominent athletes who could be attracted to appear here for far less.

"What we probably will do is offer a few of them an air ticket and accommodations for two, which could mean us paying out something like $1,500 to $2,000. Otherwise I know that we couldn't afford the going rate they appear to be getting for appearing at meets,'' said BTFA official Mike Charles.

"In the past we have done something like that for the International Race Weekend. Some of the foreign athletes do find an offer consisting of a short free holiday for them and their wife acceptable. We just cannot do much better than that because the funds are just not there.'' Bermuda's world-class triple jumper Brian Wellman, who recently finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Toronto, is one who feels that the answer may rest with the support Bermuda gets from the corporate sector.

He said that athletes like Olympic champion Mike Conley and others are getting close to $20,000 for appearances and that it was becoming a standard rate for these elite performers to compete at major events.

"These athletes are getting a lot of money, and the real top names like Carl Lewis at times are paid anywhere between $50,000 to $75,000. It just may be that Bermuda will have to come up with some serious sponsorship to get them to come here for the Heritage Day Classic,'' said Wellman.

With Wellman presently reigning as Bermuda's top performer in track and field it is obvious that the BTFA are concentrating on bringing in top athletes to compete against him. In fact Wellman has been asked to see whether Conley would consider an invitation to come.

The Bermuda triple jumper has passed on the information but since he was busy involved in the build-up to the Worlds in Toronto, Wellman does not know whether Conley has come to a decision.

"Because I have been traveling for a while I don't really know what his situation is right now, but I intend to find out. It is quite possible that since we are close friends he may consider accepting a free vacation offer involving an air ticket and accommodation,'' said Wellman.

"But there are other triple jumpers in American like Gary Johnson and Tyrone Scott who I am friendly with who may consider coming to Bermuda. They are both developing quite nicely,'' added Wellman.

Charles said that one top Caribbean triple jumper who is going to be approached as well is Olympic silver medallist Frank Rutherford of the Bahamas. Plans are for a BTFA representative to approach him at the Florida Relays this week.

These plans are all contingent on whether the triple jump pit at National Stadium will be ready in time as the track is currently being resurfaced.

According to Wellman, Guadeloupe is presently lining up elite athletes for a meet in that country on May 1 and he intends to be one of the participants.

"They are seriously looking at ways to attract some top names. I understand that they have a pretty good budget and are going for people like Pierre Camara of France and a few top Cubans as well,'' said Wellman.

Eddie Fisher, in charge of Bermuda's fund-raising endeavours, said this week that it was very difficult to estimate how much could be raised between now and the event.

However, Fisher did say that letters were about to be mailed to prospective sponsors and he hoped the response would be favourable.

"We had only three sponsors last year, but we obviously want to improve on that this time around,'' said Fisher. "If there are people or a company who want to sponsor a particular race by naming it after them or their company this can be done. We really want to make this Classic our best ever.'' Prospective sponsors and anyone interested in competing in the 1,500m and 5,000m for men and 1,500m and 3,000m for women are all asked to call Fisher at 234-2858 evenings and 295-0616 days.

WORLD CLASS -- Bermuda's triple jumper Brian Wellman believes support from the corporate sector is crucial if big-name athletes are to participate in the Heritage Day Classic.