Sports

Sandy Ground Beach was the scene of much social activity on Sunday, July 16, attracting a large crowd from throughout the island. The occasion was the 2nd Annual National Bank of Anguilla Peter Perkins Memorial Boat Race and Fun Day Village Games.

The building contract for the football stadium in Anguilla has been sent to FIFA in Switzerland for approval and work on the sports facility at the Webster Park annex is scheduled to commence over the coming weeks.

On Saturday July 15th, Rumza rocked as the Anguilla Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Association (AABBA) hosted the 11th Annual Eastern Caribbean Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships. This was the first time Anguilla was granted the honor of hosting this prestigious event in which they successfully met the challenge!

Just one year after its formation, Kicks United Football Club is well on its way to becoming a force to be reckoned with in local sport competitions.

On July 10, the 11th Annual Anguilla Tennis Academy Summer Camp started with over 120 participants eager to play. The program began at 8 am at the James Ronald Webster Park where the creation of the ATA’s summer camp began. In 1996, Mitchelle Lake and Sean Romney began doing a camp for the children of Anguilla while they were enrolled at Gardner-Webb University in the North Carolina.

After fifteen days, ten cities, three football matches and a training session with former FIFA World Player of the Year, Lothar Matthäus; the Anguilla National Football Team returned home having left an indelible mark on the minds and lives of the thousands of Germans they came into contact with during their tour of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ host country.

The Anguilla Amateur Cycling Association held a “warm up” bicycle race in front of Cable & Wireless on Sunday 18th June. The race followed the John T. route and was completed in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

The newly-constructed scenic road, linking Blowing Point and Little Harbour, was the venue for an exciting bicycle race on Sunday afternoon, June 11.

The Shining Stars FC successfully defended their title in 2006 to again claim the Chairman’s Cup. It cam down to the final game of the League and the goal difference to determine the Caribbean Commercial Bank sponsored female football champions for this year. Shining Stars FC narrowly edged out their closest rivals Gazelles FC by having a superior goal difference (12 to 10). Both teams entered the final game day level on points with last year’s champions having a slightly better record of a one goal differential.

After months of build up, the opening ceremony of the most popular of sporting events reached its climax with the most symbolic of couples lifting the most coveted of prizes.

German newspapers, radio and television stations are lavishing the Anguilla National Football team there with much publicity and praise as the players make their presence felt on the playing fields and wherever else they go.

The shouts of excitement and exultation when De Tree, the sleek A-class racing boat, sailed to victory in the round-the-island Anguilla Day race on May 30, were still in the air when the boat out-sailed its competitors in the Whit Monday races and claimed the first prize again.

I first reached the shores of Anguilla in July 1998 by invitation from Mitchelle Lake and Shawn Romney to assist as a visiting coach for the Anguilla Tennis Academy’s annual summer tennis camp. It was indeed my first trip to the Caribbean and not the last of the many “firsts” I have experienced here.

Anguilla’s Rainbow Warriors arrived in Bad Neustadt, Germany on Monday 29th May amidst the pomp and circumstance reserved for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ participating countries. The Anguillian delegation was greeted by television and media crews; hoards of people waving the Anguilla flag and a 2.3 km long red carpet that was rolled out around the entire city for the Anguillians to walk on. As a result of this red carpet, the Guinness Book of World Records has cited Bad Neustadt as being the city with the longest rolled red carpet in the world.

The Ronald Webster Park Annex was alive as three of the four matches ended in exciting draws in the first round of the CCB sponsored Female Football League last week.

The fourth annual Anguilla Regatta was held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 12, 13 & 14 and proved once again to be a great success according to the organizers.

The Anguilla Tae Kwondo Club held its bi-annual grading exams this year at the Road School on Sunday 7th May.

Thirty-five upcoming junior and senior football players in Anguilla will be getting an opportunity to spend seventeen days in Germany to witness the FIFA World Cup 2006 matches.

The Ronald Webster Park was a riot of colour and friendly rivalry as fourteen or more public and private sector teams participated in a series of fun day activities for the Labour Day holiday.

The 2006 Anguilla Female Football League (AFFL), sponsored by the Caribbean Commercial Bank, commenced at the Webster Park Annex on Sunday, April 30, and will continue until July 7.