top names like Olympic record-holder in the triple jump Mike Conley if plans by the Bermuda Track and Field Association materialise.

But to pull in big names like Powell the Bermuda Track and Field Association will have to come up with a minimum of $15,000 to promote the event which is scheduled for the National Stadium in May.

"In order to have a really good, exciting meet with quality people who have established themselves in track and field we are going to need to get good sponsorship, far greater than we have had in the past,'' said the BTFA official responsible for track and field, Stanley Douglas.

Mike Charles, chairman of the meet's organising committee, agreed with Douglas and said that he is optimistic that once the public gave the necessary support the Classic would be the biggest ever staged here.

According to Charles, the hope is to see the event develop to the point where it can eventually reach the region's calendar of events and become established as one of the major events of the year.

But in order for this to be accomplished a lot of work has to be done to promote the Heritage Classic by attracting far better sponsorship so that elite athletes like Conley can participate.

"We will certainly like to formerly offer him the opportunity to come here, we already know he is interested after talking to Brian Wellman, '' said Charles.

Conley and the Bermudian, who was a finalist at last year's Olympic Games in Barcelona, are both based in Arkansas where Wellman is a student at the University of Arkansas and Conley a coach.

The American captured the gold medal in Barcelona when he beat Wellman into fifth place with a leap of 59 feet, seven inches while Wellman jumped a Bermuda record of of 56 feet, six-and-three-quarter inches.

But the Bermudian got his revenge shortly afterwards when he beat Conley for the first time in the IAAF Grand Prix finals, upping his Bermuda record to 56-7 in the process.

BTFA officials relish the idea of having the two compete here -- obviously convinced that the type of excitement they would create will help to increase the attendance at the Classic.

If the two do decide to come here Charles said that he would like to find one other prominent triple-jumper of their calibre to make that particular event even more interesting.

The same applies for Bermuda's top sprinter residing abroad, Troy Douglas, who is also expected to return for the Classic. There are no athletes here capable of challenging him so an effort would have to be made to find two formidable runners overseas to compete against him.

The BTFA is pleased to have individuals in the United States helping to make contacts for the Classic. Neville Hodge, coach of Bermuda's Olympic female sprinter Dawnette Douglas at the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore, is one who is giving assistance in this area and another is Bermudian Branwen Smith King at Tufts University who is helping to pass the word on to prominent athletes in their respective areas.

However, officials like Douglas and Charles are primarily focussing on finding sponsors, fully conscious of the fact that unless a serious effort is being made in this direction their dreams will not bear fruit.

"It cost us about $7,000 to stage last year's event when we brought in six athletes and to make it an even bigger event this time around we have to think in the area of it costing at least $15,000,'' said Charles.

"The number and quality of athletes we get this year will depend solely on the type of financial support we get. We are grateful to those who have always supported us, but we are going to have to find more sponsors if we intend to make it bigger this year.'' The first of four CARIFTA Games trials will be held at the National Stadium today starting at 2 p.m.

MIKE CONLEY -- Lined up for Heritage Classic.