Residents across the Virgin Islands watched with rapt attention and plenty of territorial pride last month as four VI athletes competed at the Paris Olympics.
But the government and the broader community must remember to support athletes and sports in general throughout the year, not just at competition time.
The Olympic delegation — hurdler Kyron McMaster, sailor Thad Lettsome, and sprinters Adaejah Hodge and Rikkoi Brathwaite — showcased what many have long known: VI athletes have the talent and skill to compete at sport’s highest levels. That’s an impressive feat for a small territory of fewer than 40,000 residents that may not even be on many Olympic viewers’ radar.
Beyond the Olympics, sport is an important part of the VI’s culture and heritage as evidenced by high levels of participation at school, community and national competitions. Track and field, sailing, basketball, volleyball, softball, cricket, football and many other sports enjoy a strong following here.
But while individual athletes regularly enjoy outpourings of community support — motorcades and wide spectator turnout, for example — such excitement alone will not sustain and develop sport in the territory.
To that end, comprehensive measures are urgently needed, including improving facilities, tightening organisation, bolstering monetary support and much more.
For instance, the A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground, where three of the VI’s four Paris Olympians have trained, lacks a dedicated and equipped medical room to tend to injured athletes. The facility is also missing lights and adequate seating for spectators despite years of unfulfilled promises from successive governments.
The Multi-purpose Sports Complex received a much-needed air-conditioning upgrade in 2021, but the facility, like others across the territory, hasn’t always been properly maintained.
And important community sports fields in Cappoons Bay, Sea Cows Bay and Greenland, where a stadium plan stalled, have seen insufficient resources put toward their development. On the sister islands, meanwhile, infrastructure needed for many sports is often nonexistent.
Besides shortchanging residents, these issues mean that any meaningful development of sports tourism will have to wait for comprehensive measures that will take time and money, not just promises.
One form of direct support for athletes is the BVI Olympic Committee’s Tahesia Harrigan-Scott Elite Athlete Scholarship, which funds promising athletes from a pot of $200,000 annually.
This initiative is a step in the right direction, but the VI government must assist in other ways too. For example, it should present and consistently execute a national vision for VI sports.
A National Sports Policy was created in 2013 and approved by the Cabinet, but it was never tabled in the House of Assembly. Meanwhile, a longstanding promise to establish a National Sports Council has gone unfulfilled.
Other needed measures include education for athletic trainers and sports administrators. And that’s just a start.
We expect such efforts would quickly pay for themselves in various ways. For instance, if more promising athletes are noticed and supported early, they may well qualify for scholarships abroad.
The VI also receives excellent publicity each time its flag is shown at the Olympics or other international competition.
Most importantly, sports at any level improve lives. They teach young people how to set and achieve goals, how to deal with failure and disappointment, how to represent a team and behave professionally, and many other skills.
And in a society where noncommunicable diseases are a leading cause of death, the health benefits of physical activity cannot be overstated.
In short, sport is worth supporting consistently year-round.