In spite of the reoccurring negativity that has been plaguing our community, a group of teens decided to go against the grain and put their energy towards something positive. A strong team of 22 of Bermuda's finest young and talented track and field athletes took part in the XXXIX Carifta Games held at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in the Cayman Islands.

We arrived in Grand Cayman on March 31. As we stepped out from the plane onto the dry, sweltering terrain, we were pumped up for the big events awaiting us in the near future.

On Friday, April 2, most of the athletes were able to get a feel for the foreign track on which we were going to compete. This was also our chance to scope out the competitors who would be competing in our respective events and rank our performances against theirs.

A slight window of opportunity was awarded to us to reconnect with athletes we had met prior to the competition. However, this opportunity was generally bypassed as we were focused on the competition.

As we left the track, many opinions about the track were expressed. One athlete said, "It's fast, but I'll never train on it," when describing the condition of the 400m mondo track. Another athlete described it as being "fast, but really hard".

Despite these drawbacks, we were all ready to put aside the track's cons and focus on competing to the best of our abilities.

Saturday, April 3 was the opening day of the competition, and the opening ceremony drew near.

About half of us from the Bermuda team lined up alongside all the other countries including top contenders from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, and Barbados.

It was truly a magnificent sight and feeling to be in the presence of top athletes from all of the English and French speaking countries in the Caribbean. As we marched around the track, escorted by a Cayman Sea Cadet, adrenaline filled each of us while cheering from our Bermudian supporters penetrated our ears.

The mere achievement of making the Carifta Games not only encouraged us, but also propelled us to do greater than our best.

From that night, through to April 5, the Bermuda team incessantly left spectators flabbergasted and dumbfounded through our outstanding performances.

Even though most track and field events are individual events, it was truly a team effort to tie it all together. Every team member present was optimistic and encouraging towards one another, not only building up confidence but also assuring our teammates that they could achieve greatness.

Besides competition, the Carifta Games served as an avenue for cultural diffusion. We were able to mingle with other athletes and not only learn about their cultures, but also teach them about Bermuda's customs and traditions.

However, the most exquisite part of this portion of the competition is the life-long friendships that we were able to establish.

By the end of the competition, the Bermuda team was elated about the ten medals that were achieved by nine of our athletes: Jasmine Brunson, Allison Outerbridge, Akeila Richardson, Taylor-Ashley Bean, Jeneko Place, Christian Wright, Henry Stevens-Carty, Shaquille Dill, and Juma Mouchette. The rest of the team also demonstrated excellent performances and effort: Shunte Hendrickson, Alexis Bean, Ashley Berry, Bruce Degrilla, Dage Minors, Blaine Simmons, Scott Clarke, Ryan Furbert, Trey Simons, Kameron Creighton, Shawn Herman, Tristan Joyens, and Daniel Emery.

The closing ceremony became more of a closing celebration with all of the athletes parading around on the track, with, seemingly, more energy than they had entering the competition.

Our departure from the Cayman Islands turned out to be a bittersweet one as we were excited about returning home, yet saddened that all our fun and achievements had been already ended.

However, the bitterness quickly evaporated when we returned home to a raging crowd of euphoric supporters and media greeting and congratulating us. This gave us an extra boost of encouragement and fuel to strive to do even better in the future.