National Sports Council salutes sportsmen, sportswomen of the nation for 2015

The National Sports Council (NSC) salutes the sportsmen and sportswomen of the nation for their outstanding achievements in the year 2015. The year in review was an outstanding one for sportspersons, associations and St Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

In the absence of the opportunity to hold the much anticipated National Sports Awards for 2015, and in light of the outstanding returns of several sporting disciplines, the tripartite meeting of March 26, 2016, which brought together most of the sporting associations, agreed to highlight some of these outstanding performances.

Kineke Alexander gained a bronze medal in the women’s 400 metres at the PANAM Games in Canada. During the year, Alexander also recorded her best time at that distance, with a time of 51.23 seconds in San Marcos, Texas, USA, booking her a place at the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. At the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Alexander set a new St Vincent and the Grenadines 200m Women’s Indoor record of 23.24 seconds.

Shne Joachim gained two silver and one bronze in the females 13 to 14 age category of the CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in Barbados. Her silver medals came in the 50m and 200m breaststroke, with the bronze attained in the 50m butterfly event. Joachim also competed in several regional meets.

Tevin Slater was the leading goal scorer in the National Inter-community Invitational League Football Championships. Regionally, he scored in all of the four St Vincent and the Grenadines World Cup matches versus Guyana and Aruba. His five goals made him the leading goal scorer in the CONCACAF Zone of the qualifiers.

Reuberth Boyde gained a silver medal in the Under-20 200m at the CARIFTA games in St Kitts, as he achieved St Vincent and the Grenadines’ first male sprint medal in the history of the games, which dates back to 1974.

Alexi Humphrey and Anastacia White retained the Under-14 doubles in the ITF tournament in Barbados and were the losing finalists in the St Lucia leg of the ITF circuit. The two reached the semis of the Trinidad leg.

Alexi Humphrey retained the Girls’ Under-14 singles title of the BMobile ITF tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.

Jason Doyle attained the highest ranking on the world stage for all Caribbean juniors squash players.

SVG Swimming Association was able to bring together resources to upgrade the Shrewsbury Pool at Ratho Mill from four lanes to six, as well as add other amenities. The facility is now known as the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre.

Special Olympics St Vincent and the Grenadines (SOSVG) sent the largest ever contingent to the World Games in Los Angeles, California, USA, which resulted in St Vincent and the Grenadines returning its best ever medal haul.

Honourable mentions: The national senior women’s and men’s football teams both won the Windward Islands Football Association’s competitions.

SVG Under-19 Cricket team won the Windward Islands tournament, after several years of drought.

St Vincent and the Grenadines won the Under-18 Male title of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) championships, held in Anguilla.

Joseph Carrington, Sean Stanley, Unica Velox and Romano Spencer, all qualified as regional umpires and referees.

Roxanne Williams continued to perform duties as a White Badge Umpire in regional tennis tournaments.

Cyclist Cammie Adams excelled in most of the road races put on by the SVG Cycling Union.

National swim coach Kyle Dougan, track and field coach Garth DeShong and national football coach Cornelius Huggins all excelled in their respective areas.

Oalex Anderson and Myron Samuel joined the Seattle Sounders 2 in the United Soccer League.

Damien Dublin recorded victory in table tennis in the Grenada Invitational Championship.

Stacy Ann Adams was called up on trial for the West Indies women’s cricket team ahead of the ICC Women’s 20/20 World Cup.

Gidron Pope was selected to the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. He also performed well for St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Windward Islands Under-19 Tournament and for the Windward Islands in the West Indies Tournament.

Pamenos Ballantyne won the BVI Half Marathon and was third in the Chatoyer Endurance 10k.

Sprinter Courtney Williams set a new St Vincent and the Grenadines mark in the 200m.

The NSC, with the agreement of the associations at the tripartite meeting on March 26, has already commissioned a five-member panel of judges to begin judging for 2016. They will gather the necessary data and make recommendations to the NSC of the top performers for 2016. This will guarantee a revived and enhanced National Sports Awards for 2016.