2014 was one of the busiest years for sports in the Virgin Island as the territory’s athletes and representatives attended more games, conferences and workshops than ever before.
The year started off with the VI’s participation in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in February when half-pipe skier, Peter Adam Crook represented the territory in a winter sport for just the second time in its history.
This month also saw preparations afoot for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games when the BVIOC hosted the ZEUS workshop. 13 National Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Association delegates from the Caribbean and Canada attended the 3-day workshop to gain theoretical and practical education on how to organize, develop, and plan for regional, national and international sporting competitions.
Office of the Premier
In April, the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay brought the community together in a 2-day, public relay through Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, and Virgin Gorda. The relay, a precursor to the Commonwealth Games, traversed the VI by land and sea as part of the baton’s tour through 71 Commonwealth countries and Overseas Territories.
The first contract of the National Sport Structure was signed in May between the BVIOC, the Virgin Islands Volleyball Association and VI Volleyball coach, Ms. Jackie Weekes. The financial support of $30,000 was offered through the Olympic Solidarity Organisation to all National Federations as an opportunity to review their sport’s existing programme and to manage a development programme from Primary School through National Junior Teams.
In June, Karl Scatliffe attended the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees and Toronto 2015 (CANOC/TO2015) workshop on Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) held in the Dominican Republic. The LTAD framework is a seven-stage training, competition and recovery pathway guiding an individual’s experience in sport and physical activity from infancy through all phases of adulthood. The beneficiaries of the promgramme are selected based on their involvement in sport by the BVIOC.
Olympic Day celebrations at Tortola Sports Club
At the Olympic Day celebrations in June, the BVIOC in conjunction with the Athletics, Sailing, and Swimming federations announced the VI’s athletes for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Peter Adam Crook was also awarded the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Participant’s Pin.
In July, Olanzo A. Boynes who heads the BVI Taekwondo Association, attended the Elite Athletes Programme via PASO. The High Level Technical Continental Course of Taekwondo held in Mexico was intended to help instructors to identify, train, and enhance the performance of athletes that compete in Taekwondo and to continue the development and success of the sport in the territory. In August, President of BVI Swimming Federation Elsworth Phillip. attended the Elite Athletes Programme via PASO in Colorado Springs for the sport of Swimming.
Team BVI at the Glasgow 2014 opening ceremony. Photo: (C) PA Images
10 athletes from Athletics, Squash and Swimming represented the VI at the XX Commonwealth Games held from July 23 – August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland. This was the first year that the territory was represented in Swimming at the games.
From August 18 – 26, 8 competitors from Athletics, Sailing, and Swimming attended the second edition of the Youth Summer Olympic Games, in Nanjing, China.
In September, the BVIOC renewed its partnership with Government to promote the Walk/Run for Health campaign with a pledge of $30,000. The sum, donated over a three year period, is sourced through the Olympic Solidarity programme. The funds support a three-year campaign launched by the BVI Health and Wellness Council 8 as an urgent call for VI residents to increase their physical activity.
Squash took advantage of the Pan-American Festival in September to benefit from athletic preparation for participation in the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In October, the BVIOC, in conjunction with the Brazilian Olympic Committee / Olympic Solidarity selected Mr. Derwin Scatliffe, Athletic Director of the Elmore Stoutt High School, to attend the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Exchange and Cooperation Programme. The initiative shared knowledge, experiences, and practices of sporting projects and school sport systems with a view to promoting the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, respect, spirit and unity and to harnessing and developing the talent of prospective national athletes in various sports disciplines.
Also in October, Ms. Gloria Fahie attended a CANOC/TO2015 workshop on Voluntarism which was held in Grenada. The course covered topics such as organizational needs, recruiting, volunteer group work, training volunteers, and managing and retaining volunteers.
VIOC Past President, Rey O’Neal with the honouree 1984 Olympians in attendance at a celebratory even to mark the 30th anniversary of the BVIOC
On November 1, the BVIOC marked 30 years of the VI’s participation in regional and international Games with a reception that honoured the first Olympians to represent the territory and acknowledged all 25 Olympians. The celebratory event included an overview of the BVIOC’s milestones and history from 1984 to date.
The VI’s bumper year of games closed out with a Gold medal win by long jumper, Chantel Malone who took first place in the Veracruz 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico in November. Malone was in the company of 4 other athletes representing the VI in Athletics and Squash.
Athletes in 2014 were beneficiaries of Olympic Solidarity Programmes with Rio 2016 Scholarships awarded to Alec Anderson and Christopher Brockbank for Sailing, Elinah Phillip for Swimming, and Chantel Malone and Eldred Henry for Track & Field.
The BVIOC President and Treasurer ended the organisation’s year of commitments by attending the 2nd Americas Best Practice Symposium hosted in Miami by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and Olympic Solidarity. The symposium was conducted over a two-day period in which national Olympic committee leaders exchanged knowledge and experience through presentations, panel discussions, question and answer sessions. Topics included athlete development, resource allocation and branding.
Other notable achievements for 2014 included continuing with promoting Sports for All through the Walk for Health and Swimming though the KATS Swimming program; advising Government on the Virgin Islands National Sport Policy; establishing an Elite Athlete program in collaboration with Ministry of Education and setting up a quarterly meeting between the BVIOC members with the Minister of Sports.
The BVIOC also made big strides in expanding the VI’s Anti-Doping Programme to ensure that the territory is in full compliance with the 2015 Code. The VI now has 2 certified Doping Control Officers (DCOs) who attended a Result Management workshop in Guyana in February and re-trained online in October. The DCOs conducted 9 out-of-competition testings during the year. Educational programs were carried out at the National Basketball tournament and at the Olympic Day Run at Tortola Sports Cub.
The BVIOC took advantage of the Capacity Support Programme, a joint initiative between the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Canada, with funding support from Olympic Solidarity, designed to build and enhance the capacity of Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) / National Olympic Committees (NOCs)s.
Upcoming 2015/2016 activities, and programmes include the enforcement of the 2015 World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list; hosting the 2016 Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) Board meeting in Tortola; rolling out 16, LIMA 2019/CANOC 2015-2018 Workshops Agreements, and supporting the 2015 BVI National UNESCO Education Project.
Games of 2015 include Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games in Canada from July 10 – 26, Chef de Mission Xavier Dag Samuels; Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games from 5-12 September, Chef de Mission Angeleta Bernard; and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil from 5-21 August 2016 – Chef de Mission to be decided.
The BVIOC is a not-for profit organization that operates on a year-round basis to provide practical and financial support for the territory’s National Federations and their athletes representing the nation in international games. The BVIOC also represents and promotes the Olympic Movement values of Respect, Excellence, and Friendship.
The BVIOC relies on a committee of volunteers and an executive director. The current committee comprises President, Ephraim Penn; 1st Vice President, Neville Smith; 2nd Vice President, Roy Barry; Secretary General, Lloyd Black; Treasurer, Mark Chapman; Athlete’s Representative, Sabinah Clement. Cleave Farrington holds the post of Executive Director.
VI athletes and delegations for 2014
Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games – Chef de Mission Mark Chapman – February 7 – 23, 2014
1 athlete attended:
- Peter Adam Crook – Half-Pipe skiing
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – Chef de Mission Mark Chapman – July23 – August 3, 2014
10 athletes attended:
- Amarah Phillip – Swimming
- Elinah Phillip – Swimming
- Ashley Kelly – Track and Field
- Chantel Malone – Track and Field (4th at FINALS)
- Eldred Henry – Track and Field
- Karene King – Track and Field
- Keron Stoute – Track and Field
- Shaquoy Stephens – Track and Field
- Tahesia Harrigan-Scott – Track and Field (Did not attend)
- Joseph Chapman – Squash
Coaches:
- Winston Potter – Track and field
- Karl Scatliffe – Track and field
- Samir Ahmed – Swimming
- Tracy Bradshaw – Swimming
- Joseph Kneipp – Squash
Other officials:
- Physio – Thomas Jepperson
- Attache – Shirley Parker
- President Penn and Secretary General Black also attended
Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games – Chef de Mission Stephanie Russ-Penn – August 2014
8 athletes attended:
- Sam Morrel – Sailing
- Amarah Phillip – Swimming
- Deya Erickson – Track and Field
- Akeem Bradshaw – Track and Field
- Kala Penn – Track and Field
- Kyron McMaster – Track and Field
- Lakeisha Mimi Warner – Track and Field
- Nelda Huggins – Track and Field
Coaches:
- Christopher Waiters –
- Andrew Morrel
- Ralston Varlack
- Tracy Bradshaw
- Elinah Phillip
Veracruz 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games – Chef de Mission Cleave M. Farrington – November 14 – 30, 2014
5 athletes attended:
- Tahesia Harrigan-Scott – Track and Field
- Chantel Malone – Track and Field – (Gold medal was achieved)
- Joseph Chapman – Squash
- Joseph Kneipp – Squash
- Michael Adamson – Squash
Coaches:
- Mark Chapman
- Winston Potter
