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Olympics Medal Winners from the V.I.: Peter Holmberg, Silver, Yachting, Seoul Olympics 1988...*Sugar Ray Seales, Gold, Boxing, *Paul Hoffman, Silver, Rowing, Munich Olympics 1972
*Virgin Islanders competed for the U.S.

V.I. Basketball Federation to host CAC Championships June 28 to July 7 at University of the Virgin Islands Campus and the new Sports Complex...visit website at: http://vibf.net/

VOLUNTEERS Make all the successful efforts of the Virgin Islands Olympic movement possible...
To become an Olympic Volunteer, contact your favorite Federation...

V.I. athletes, Vice-President, appear on NBC's Tonight Show...

Ann Abernathy, Dinah Brown and Dr.Marlon Williams, Vice-President of the VIOC were performers in a light-hearted and obviously impromptu "Street Luge" competition stage as a live remote segment of the popular Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  The video is floating around the Territory and no doubt available to those who missed the real thing...

Olympic Solidarity...
Makes it possible for athletes, coaches, officials, NOC to develop...
 

V.I. officials told that Olympic athletes need more money, better facilities
By SEAN McCOY
Monday, November 12th 2007

Olympic hopefuls from the Virgin Islands need more and better facilities, more money and better coordination with the government if they hope to compete consistently at an international level. Yet even though they lack resources, Virgin Islands athletes consistently surprise people the world over with their competitiveness.

That message was repeated many times as representatives of each of the 22 federations of the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee gave a five-minute speech in front of other federation heads and Gov. John deJongh Jr. and other government officials on Saturday morning at Government House in Christensted.

While few concrete recommendations came out of the meeting, federation heads consistently stated that more governmental and private support would improve the competitiveness of athletes from the Virgin Islands.

"Let's make sports rise to the next level in the Virgin Islands," said Sen. Ronald Russell, who is president of the Athletics Federation that governs track and field.

Many federation presidents also remarked that better facilities and organization will help the Virgin Islands attract teams from off-island to train and compete here. Several speakers said that sports tourism can be a profitable venture and the Virgin Islands are uniquely poised to take advantage of a tropical climate for training for events such as swimming, cycling and running.

Brad Nugent, assistant commissioner of the Tourism Department, spoke about sports tourism and encouraged attendees to think about what benefit their programs can bring to the territory. Funding is available for sports tourism if it will bring in revenue, Nugent said.

St. Claire Williams, commissioner of Housing, Parks and Recreation, said that he hopes recent efforts to create a separate department of Sports, Parks and Recreation will be successful. He said that the separation will help focus the job of the department.

DeJongh said that he will invest in sports in the territory.

"We can't say that the children are our future unless we give them opportunities," he said.

With a short time to get their message across to the governor, speakers made recommendations and highlighted achievements of each sport. Some include:

Athletics. Ronald Russell: An international quality sports complex should be constructed at both Educational Complex and Ivanna Eudora Kean High School to host international events.

Baseball. Morgan Quigley: The small size and relative isolation of the Virgin Islands limits the ability of athletes to compete consistently with other elite athletes.

- The federation cannot host others or travel without outside funding sources.

- The federation needs sponsorship for uniforms and other equipment.

- There is only one field on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix that can hosting international competition.

Basketball. Usie Richards: The men's and women's teams from the Virgin Islands have had some international success, including many appearances and wins at large events. The Virgin Islands are 70th out of 212 federations in the world.

- Recently competed in the Tournament of the Americas and was the only country with a population of less than 4 million to qualify.

- Four Virgin Islands national teams competed in international competitions in the past year.

- The Virgin Islands needs to get more out of existing facilities.

Bowling. Valencio Jackson: A family sport that is aiming at junior athletes to grow into international hopefuls.

The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee recently announced the selection of Sacha Gumbs, a tennis player and Muhammad Abiff, a wrestler,  as the V.I. representatives to attend the Athens Olympic Youth Camp (OYC) to be held during the Olympics this Summer in Athens Greece August 11-26, 2004,  .

The OYC, organized and funded by the Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC), is a cross-cultural exchange that will bring together young people from around the world. They will participate with their peers in learning about other nations and their customs and to share the experience of the Olympic Games.

The program is divided into three sections over 16 days. The youth will participate in activities in Athens, outside of Athens and on a one-day cruise to the island of Saronikos. They will attend the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as Olympic Games competitions, observe athletes training, visit archaeological areas and tour Ancient Olympia.

Youth applicants between the ages 16-18 were required to submit information about their sport and academic achievements, their leadership activities and an essay on “Olympic Spirit” and to be interviewed by the VIOC Executive Board..

The first Olympic Youth Camp was at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, when King Gustav V invited 1,500 Boy Scouts from five countries to pitch their tents next to the Olympic Stadium to provide help for the V Olympiad. The camps have been a regular feature of the Olympic Games since 1952 in Helenski, Finland, with Melbourne and Los Angeles being the exceptions.

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