Sports

Much is being contributed to the friendship between the people of Anguilla and their next-door neighbours in St. Martin/St. Maarten through various sporting activities being played in the territories.

The “Clarence Fleming-Rogers Windball Cricket Knockout Tournament” ended on Saturday October 1st at the JRWP with three ten-overs-a-side matches.

The 2005 Wind-ball Cricket Season, involving eight male and six female teams from throughout Anguilla, commenced at the Ronald Webster Park on Sunday, September 25.

The Anguilla Swarming Fire Ants Female Football Team returned to Anguilla on Monday 26th September. The Fire Ants narrowly missed qualifying for the final stage of the CONCACAF U-20 qualifying World Cup.

Some seventy students from Campuses A and B of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School began the school’s Second Annual Inter-House Cricket Competition on Monday September 19. According to Cricket Development Officer, Cardigan Connor, the matches will continue until Friday September 30 but may be extended for a third week.

Anguilla’s first West Indies Cricketer, Omari Banks, has been given a financial award for his performance in some of the matches.

On September 5, the second annual Anguilla Tennis Academy After School Program began. This year’s program is being conducted by Jason Allen, Director of the ATA. Jason is originally from Florida where he grew up playing the world renowned Florida junior circuit. Both he and Mitchelle Lake, founder and president of the ATA, were team mates at Gardner-Webb University and played doubles together.

This past weekend, many Anguillian children participated in the Anguilla National Tennis Tournament (ANTT). The tournament was run by Jason Allen, Director of the Anguilla Tennis Academy and, conducted at Temenos Villas. Its purpose was to develop competition and camaraderie among children in various age groups.

The Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla has been well land mowed and new dressing has been applied to the cricket pitch for a three-day Leeward Islands match here from Thursday to Saturday involving players from Anguilla and Antigua.

Sunset Homes, a company in Anguilla involved in design construction and villa rentals, sponsored its third annual Fun Day for school children in the Stoney Ground area on Sunday, August 28. The highly successful community event attracted a large number of youngsters who competed in various sporting activities.

The Anguilla Amateur Netball Association is participating for the very first time in the ECCB/OECS Annual Under 23 Netball Tournament.

From Monday 08 August – Friday 19 August, 2005, the Anguilla Football Association (AFA) staged its annual Youth Soccer Camp at the James Ronald Webster Park as part of its strategic plan to build awareness of the sport, increase the number of local children being exposed to the game and also offer alternative programmes for youth development on the island.

An event which went on reported was that the racing boat Superstar struck a reef just minutes before completing the August Tuesday race at Island Harbour.

The all-female Fire Ants football team has just had some motivational training during a team-building day organised for them under auspices of the Anguilla Football Association.

Anguilla participated in the 10th Eastern Caribbean Body-Building, Fitness and Body Fitness Championships held recently in Kingstown, St. Vincent.

Anguilla’s upcoming athletic, Shara Proctor, placed fifth in the long jump at the Pan American Junior Championships held in Canada recently.

For eight consecutive years Scotiabank has supported the Summer Festival through its sponsorship of the Champion of Champions boat race.

The Anguilla Social Security Board has made arrangements for local athlete Miss Curlee Gumbs to travel to North Carolina, USA, to undergo professional training with John Burks, Coach of 4X400m Olympic gold medallist, Crystal Cox. Curlee’s period of training runs from July 17 to September 2, 2005, with a short break in between (August 3 – 15) to compete at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Anguilla was represented at the just concluded World Youth Championships which were held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 13th to the 17th July. The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) organizes these championships every two years for athletes under 18 years of age, from all over the world.

The Caribbean Commercial Bank has donated EC$14,740 to the Anguilla Boat Racing Committee for the sponsorship of the August Thursday boat race at Meads Bay when the CCB’s Gold Cup will be presented to the winner.