Some 300 athletes and game officials will be participating in the Leeward Islands Youth Track & Field Championships to be held at the James Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla during the period April 30 – May 1.

L - R: Sutcliffe Hodge, Wilma Proctor, Alkins Rogers and Kenn Banks

Although a pleasurable undertaking for the Anguilla Amateur Athletic Association, it will be nevertheless be an expensive one, but already local sponsorships are coming in to offset the cost.

L - R: Trevor Woodley, Shyrone Hughes, Alkins Rogers, Wilma Proctor and Kenn Banks

The first received on Tuesday, April 19, were the sponsorships from Cable and Wireless and the Caribbean Commercial Bank which have individually contributed EC$6,000.

At the Cable and Wireless presentation ceremony, Chief Executive Sutcliffe Hodge, said it was exciting that the event was coming to Anguilla and that a number of the company’s locations would be represented. The islands are the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, the US Virgin Islands and St. Martin/St. Maarten.

Mr. Hodge said, “Cable Wireless liked to be associated with undertakings such as the upcoming athletic competition that would help to build character and discipline among young people. We are therefore pleased to announce that we intend to take up the platinum sponsorship to the tune of EC$6,000 and we trust that we will get good value for money for this. We hope that Anguillians will come out in large numbers and support the young people and that our local athletes will demonstrate the true nature of the Anguillian spirit for excellence.”
He added that the idea of the athletes in the sub-region performing and excelling in sports, spoke well for the future of the Caribbean. He hoped that more regional athletes, and specifically Anguillians, would perform in the international sporting arenas.

President of the of the Anguilla Amateur Athletic Association, Kenn Banks, thanked Cable and Wireless for being one of the few platinum sponsors in addition to being a regular sponsor of the Association’s activities. He said there were three categories of athletics in the Leeward Islands Youth Championships: under 15, under 13 and under 11.

Each island will have 35 athletes and up to six officials. This year Montserrat is back in the games after a short absence, but will be having a reduced team.

Practice sessions at the Ronald Webster Park for the Leeward Islands Youth Track and Field events

Mr. Banks said the athletes had been very busy training and planning the event. The event is expected to cost in excess of $40,000 - $50,000 and, according to him, his Association was well on the way in raising the funds. He added that there were gold, platinum and silver sponsors and they were all helping to meet the target.
Banks praised Wilma Proctor, Alexis Ryan, Emris Rogers and Trevor Davis for coaching members of the Anguillian team.

Sports Director, Atkins Rogers, who recently returned from Australia, spoke about plans for Anguilla to send a team to the Commonwealth Games there and the need for corporate sponsorship. He, too, was grateful to Cable and Wireless and the Caribbean Commercial Bank for their sponsorship of the Leeward Islands Youth Championships.

Following the Cable and Wireless presentation ceremony, the Caribbean Commercial Bank, represented by the Assistant Manager Research & Development, Trevor Woodley, made its contribution. Mr. Woodley gave Kenn Banks a letter, the text of which is as follows:

Practice sessions at the Ronald Webster Park for the Leeward Islands Youth Track and Field events

“The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Limited extend congratulations to the Anguilla Amateur Athletic Association for the hosting and staging of the Leeward Islands Youth Athletic Championships 2005.

“Always a frontrunner in the economic and social development of the island, we are excited to confirm our participation in the initiative by extending our sponsorship of the event with a donation of EC$6,000 in our capacity as a platinum sponsor. We applaud the effort of the sporting body on behalf of the entire Anguillian populace.”

Mr. Banks expressed on behalf of his association, gratitude and best wishes to the Caribbean Commercial Bank for its sponsorship.

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