In international sports, it’s the U.S. Virgin Islands versus the world – and the territory is able to hold its own, according to a score of representatives of the 21 sports federations that make up the V.I. Olympic Committee.
The sports representatives presented information about their groups at its annual gathering Saturday afternoon in the amphitheater of the Sunny Isles Shopping Center, where they try to pique the interest of young athletes and foster support.
Some of the sports have had a presence on the international stage completely out of proportion to the territory’s size. The Virgin Islands Shooting Sports Federation, for example, has sent a representative to every Olympics since 1972, said Ned Gerard, president of the group. That’s even more impressive when you realize that only 40 of the world’s 212 competing nations make the Olympics every four years.
Sport by sport, the representatives from each sport federation came forward to proudly talk about the events their athletes have recently been to, or will be going to. Athletic competition is taking islanders all around the world – from Puerto Rico to China – and once again a contingent will travel to the Olympics, to be held next summer in London.
During Saturday’s presentation, members of the V.I. Judo Federation put on a demonstration, throwing each other to the mat with resounding thumps, while members of the Chess Federation showed the crowd "speed chess." Sen. Usie Richards, president of the V.I. Basketball Federation, introduced a lineup of the island’s stars, including some now gracing the lineups of top NCAA programs.
The territory will send 26 athletes in seven different sports to the Pan Am Games in Mexico this October, according to Hans Lawaetz, president of the VIOC, and six to nine to the next Olympics.
The Virgin Islands doesn’t have the population base of the big countries, or the finances or facilities, Lawaetz said but it does have some advantages of its own: a climate that allows training year round, a good organization and a tradition of good athletes.
Better facilities, especially a center that could be used both for training and hosting competitions, would be a big addition, he added. Right now, U.S.V.I.’s sport ambassadors have to travel everywhere to compete, even against our neighbors in adjacent islands. Other nations would be happy to visit the territory to compete, Lawaetz said, but there’s no place to hold large-scale competitions.
But it’s about even more than competing for championships and titles and Olympic glory, said Dennis Brown, president of the V.I. Baseball Federation.
"I promote baseball," he said "But the first thing I promote is education."
Brown, a former AAA player himself, noted that many V.I. players get to attend colleges in the States on athletic scholarships. Most of the other federations mentioned the same thing – track and field, wrestling, basketball, volleyball and even shooting don’t just open the world to the athletes. Many of them are able to earn full ride athletic scholarships.
